Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire in devastated Ukrainian city holds for its first 30 hours, officials say

Brokered by first lady Melania Trump, a six-day ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine held for its first day and night, officials said Wednesday, but Moscow and Kyiv continued to batter each other elsewhere.

The localized truce in the devastated southern city of Oleshky began Tuesday and is due to last through Sunday as a planned humanitarian operation races to get its about 2,000 remaining residents urgently needed food and medicine, as well as evacuate those who want to leave.

If the ceasefire holds, it will be the first time since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor more than 4 ½ years ago that the two sides have observed a significant truce. Previous attempts to stop the fighting have either failed to take hold or quickly unraveled.

The development coincided with U.S.-led plans to bring Moscow and Kyiv officials back to the table next month for technical talks on how to move forward on ending the war, even though neither side shows signs of backing down from their key demands.

Russia’s ombudsperson Yana Lantratova and Ukraine’s human rights ombudsperson Dmytro Lubinets both said Wednesday there had been no ceasefire violations in Oleshky for 30 hours.

The plight of the…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world