Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy awards Melania Trump national honour for role in brokering Oleshky truce

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded Melania Trump a national honour for her role in brokering a partial ceasefire that allowed the evacuation of civilians from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky. “I hereby decree that the Order of Princess Olga, First Class, be awarded to Melania Trump, first lady of the United States of America,” a decree on the Ukrainian presidential website said on Wednesday. The text acknowledged her “significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine, and for active human rights and charitable work”. Melania Trump last month announced a localised truce between Ukrainian and Russian forces to allow for residents of Oleshky – on the southern front – to leave after suffering weeks of shortages of food and medicine. She said nearly 800 people were evacuated. Ukraine this week accused Russia of taking advantage of the truce to strengthen its military position there, while the Kremlin said adjusting positions during a ceasefire was “standard practice”.

Ukraine’s security services announced the dismissal of two senior officials linked to a high-level anti-corruption probe into bogus call centres. The head of the SBU, Oleksandr Poklad, “removed from their posts two senior SBU officials implicated in an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau” (Nabu), the service said on Telegram on Wednesday. The SBU – Ukraine’s internal security service – said it was “providing full support” for the probe and that Poklad expected Nabu’s investigation to be “transparent, objective and impartial”. The two agencies have long been at odds. Revelations about the scam caused Ukraine’s prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko to quit in September after his offices were searched. He has denied wrongdoing.

Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to Madrid to drum up fresh military support against Russia during a summit of Latin American leaders in Spain. He confirmed his arrival on Wednesday on social media, saying “our top priority is strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses, protecting our people and expanding defense cooperation and production”. “Further support steps are being prepared,” the Ukrainian president added, without providing detail.

Russian attacks triggered power and water outages for hours across the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and surrounding regions on Wednesday while Zelenskyy said the death toll from an attack in southern Ukraine had risen to 40. Multiple Russian guided bombs slammed into a former school and nearby shelter in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, as residents waited for humanitarian aid on Monday. In addition to those killed, Zelenskyy said 30 more people could still be buried in the rubble.

A Ukrainian drone attack killed three members of the same family, including a child, in Russia’s border Belgorod region, officials said. The region’s general headquarters said the drone struck a minibus in which the three people, including an eight-year-old child, were travelling on Wednesday.

The UK apologised to Ukrainian child refugees who were told to study Russian in English schools, as it launched funding for a new GCSE in Ukrainian, reports Matthew Weaver. “So many students were pushed into having to do Russian,” UK schools minister Georgia Gould said while announcing the new qualification. “I’m really sorry that they were put in that position.”

Canada joined a coalition of countries refusing to play ice hockey teams from Russia due to the war in Ukraine, with Mark Carney saying Russian skaters will not be able to compete in the world junior championship next month.