U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has been given Ukraine's highest award for women by President Volodymyr Zelensky for her humanitarian work helping children.

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has been awarded Ukraine's highest honor for women by President Volodymyr Zelensky for her humanitarian work for the war-torn country, particularly with children who have been deported to Russia, or displaced.

Zelensky's presidential decree awarding Trump with the Order of Princess Olga, 1st Degree, said it was for her "significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine, active human rights and charitable activities aimed at saving Ukrainian children, citizens who suffered as a result of Russian aggression, illegally deported and forcibly displaced from the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation."

In May, Ukraine publicly thanked Mrs Trump on the issue, saying her efforts had been critical in securing the return of at least 26 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia over the past several months.

Ukraine Parliament's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinet said at the time that Trump had become an important ally in negotiating with Moscow to return children to their families from Russia and regions under Russian control.

"She helps us a lot... It is clear that the involvement of the first lady of the United States makes it [negotiating with Russia] easier for me in some sense," said Lubinets, who added that Moscow "can't avoid" responding to Ukrainian requests when they were routed via the White House.

The awarding of the honor comes as the first lady was due to hosts Ukrainian and Russian representatives Thursday at the White House after a five-day cease-fire she successfully helped broker enabled the evacuation of hundreds of civilians trapped in Oleshky in Russian-occupied Kherson province and get in badly needed supplies and medicine to those who wished to remain.

Residents who wanted to leave the city, which was overrun by Russian forces on day one of the war in February 2022, made the journey back to non-occuppied parts of Ukraine on Saturday, traveling via Russia and Belarus.

Zelensky's decree does not mention the five day cease-fire which went into force in the early hours of Oct. 27 and ran through Sunday night.

A statement from Mrs. Trump's office on Oct. 23 when the cease-fire deal was announced described desperate conditions in the besieged city.

"The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster. Oleshky's remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food and clean water. The people of Oleshky have limited electricity, live amid mined roads, and endure regular military attacks. It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible," read the statement.