Evacuation from Oleshky was planned by intelligence services of Ukraine and Russia, but was presented as achievement of Melania Trump, - Le Monde
The mission to evacuate civilians from the occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region was actually orchestrated by Ukrainian and Russian military intelligence agencies. However, it was publicly presented as the result of diplomatic mediation by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.
This was reported by the French newspaper Le Monde, citing its own sources, according to Censor.NET.
Details
According to the publication, Moscow had long refused to open a humanitarian corridor to Oleshky.
However, in the summer of 2026, the parties finally agreed to direct negotiations between the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
After four months of consultations, the practical aspects of evacuating the civilian population were organized by the human rights commissioners of both countries—Dmytro Lubinets from Ukraine and Yana Lantratova from Russia.
Despite this, the operation was carried out under the auspices of the White House and presented as a personal achievement of Melania Trump. However, as the publication notes, the exact extent of Washington’s involvement remains unknown.
Experts and sources cited by Le Monde suggest that even if Melania Trump expressed concern for the fate of civilians, Kyiv and Moscow—having already agreed on the details among themselves—may have deliberately given diplomatic credit to Washington. This could have been a nod to Donald Trump, who always strives to act as the chief arbiter in global affairs.
"Realizing that he wouldn't receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump may have decided to try to win it for Melania," the publication writes.
What preceded the evacuation
The city of Oleshky had been under Russian occupation since 2022, and in recent months, a large-scale humanitarian crisis had escalated there.
As a result of agreements on a ceasefire and the opening of an evacuation corridor, approximately 700 people were evacuated from the city.
