Celebrity chef José Andrés had some choice words for Donald Trump‘s wife, Melania Trump, about her “historic” Ukraine ceasefire. The World Central Kitchen founder challenged the First Lady’s celebration with a stark reminder of what was happening elsewhere in the country.
What José Andrés said about Oleshky and Russian attacks on civilians
José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, challenged Melania Trump’s celebration of the Oleshky ceasefire in a post on X. He tagged Melania in a video showing bodies on a railway platform and wrote, “one small gesture of ‘compassion’ doesn’t cover up the real tragedy that civilians are facing every day!”
Andrés pointed out a key issue with the evacuation plan under the ceasefire. He noted that while over 2,000 people would be “safer” on paper, authorities took them to Russian-held territory. Civilians were moved to Russian-occupied Kherson rather than Ukrainian-controlled areas. He added, “but while this happens civilians keep being hunted all over Ukraine.”
His comments came as Russia launched a drone strike on a rail platform in Dnipro on the same day. The attack killed at least 14 people, according to Reuters. Two teenage girls also died in a separate Russian drone attack on a street in Chernihiv. Another 23 people were wounded in that strike.
Russian forces also struck residential buildings in Kremenchuk, killing three and wounding 32. Three separate attacks hit city buses in Zaporizhzhia the same day. Melania called the Oleshky ceasefire “historic” while staying silent about these attacks.
In a separate post, Andrés directly appealed to Trump’s special envoys. He wrote, “@SteveWitkoff @jaredkushner @POTUS please please until to achieve a real ceasefire or even ending the war can you just achieve the simple ask to Putin to stop hunting for children, women, elderly…?” He urged that protecting civilians “should be your main job.”
Melania’s team had earlier hailed the Oleshky truce as “the first sign towards real, everlasting peace within this war-torn region.”
