Four Newsmax journalists will travel to Alyoshki, where a demining effort to secure evacuation routes is already underway, the US first lady has said<\/p>\n
American journalists will observe a humanitarian mission under a Russia-Ukraine truce in the frontline town of Alyoshki in Kherson Region, Russia, US First Lady Melania Trump has said. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has confirmed that the reporters are expected there, and that demining operations are already underway.
\nAlyoshki, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River, was largely cut off from essential supplies and basic services for months under a Ukrainian siege, with drone attacks and remotely laid mines hampering aid deliveries and evacuation efforts from a town where an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 civilians remained.
\nRussian Foreign Ministry envoy Rodion Miroshnik described the situation as a \u201cmedieval blockade using modern methods,\u201d accusing Ukraine of obstructing humanitarian efforts.
\nHowever, after US mediation spearheaded by the Slovenian-born US first lady, Moscow and Kiev agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the area starting October 27 to allow humanitarian assistance to flow in and evacuations to proceed. As of Thursday, both Russian and Ukrainian officials reported no truce violations. The pause is scheduled to last until Sunday.<\/p>\n
Writing on X on Wednesday, Trump said four American journalists from conservative US outlet Newsmax will arrive in Alyoshki and accompany Russian and Ukrainian humanitarian leaders. \u201cServing as neutral observers, they will independently record and permanently document this historic humanitarian mission,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: \u2018People are starving\u2019: Survivors recount horrors of Ukrainian siege (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
Dmitriev confirmed that Newsmax reporters will be there, adding: \u201cHumanity and peace must prevail.\u201d
\nSpeaking to reporters before departing to Alyoshki, Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said other foreign journalists are also expected to arrive, without providing further details.
\nBoth Trump and Lantratova confirmed that Russia and Ukraine have begun clearing mines to secure aid routes. \u201cIt is now crucial to make the roads safe so that people can leave the town,\u201d Lantratova said.
\nThe Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that most Ukrainian mines found near Alyoshki were scattered by drones, and that they are predominantly Western-made. It also released a video showing a large-scale demining effort involving remotely-controlled robots.
\nThe Alyoshki crisis was discussed during an October 9 phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the leaders agreed that Russia\u2019s human rights commissioner would maintain direct contact with Melania Trump\u2019s office. US envoy Steve Witkoff subsequently met with Putin in St. Petersburg last week to discuss proposals for ending the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Four Newsmax journalists will travel to Alyoshki, where a demining effort to secure evacuation routes is already underway, the US first lady has said American journalists will observe a humanitarian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t