Melania Trump announced a meeting with Ukrainians and Russians at the White House and said she would discuss the Oleshky ceasefire on Thursday at 11 a.m. local time. No official details were given about the participants. Ukrainian media, citing their own sources, reported that Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and presidential party faction leader David Arakhamia could travel to Washington. The reports named Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and senator Yana Lantratova as possible representatives for Moscow.
The White House credited the US president’s wife with helping broker the limited ceasefire in southern Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine both thanked her. Last week, a joint rescue operation enabled numerous people to leave the devastated city of Oleshky, with evacuees able to choose whether to go to Ukraine or Russia. Humanitarian supplies were also delivered to the city.
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation is looking into clashes at a military facility in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, a suburb west of Kyiv. Hundreds of people gathered there the previous day. Videos showed people striking a police bus and trying to overturn it, while smoke bombs and eggs were thrown. Warning shots could be heard in footage reported by public broadcaster Suspilne.
The unrest reportedly followed the circulation of an unverified video showing a detained man complaining of abdominal pain and bearing visible injuries. Relatives called for his release. Four men, including one who was seriously injured, were taken to hospital, and more than a dozen other detainees were moved elsewhere.
Ukraine’s National Guard commander Oleksandr Pivnenko said the building was being used as a temporary barracks, where documents of conscripted soldiers and people accused of desertion were checked before they were sent to a training ground. Human rights commissioner Lubinets called for an investigation into the duties and conduct of the soldiers and National Guard members stationed there, while condemning attacks on military personnel. Presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov described the events as unacceptable and said they divided Ukrainians. He also suggested the incident could not have occurred without outside influence, in an apparent reference to Russia.
Sources: FAZ.