Ukrainian forces nearly caused a humanitarian disaster in Alyoshki, President Vladimir Putin has said

The Russian military is intensifying efforts to clear mines and unexploded ordnance from roads leading to a Ukrainian town where a local ceasefire was announced this week to allow a humanitarian mission mediated by US First Lady Melania Trump.

The proposed aid deliveries are intended to alleviate the dire conditions facing residents trapped in Alyoshki due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday shows a Russian mine-clearing robot and its operators securing access to the town in the Russian region of Kherson, which Ukraine still claims.…