Short ceasefire allows Kherson residents to return to streets

Residents of Kherson, Ukraine, experienced a return to daily life during a five-day ceasefire that ended on November 1. The truce, which ran from October 27 to November 1, was negotiated by First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV. It provided a temporary pause in the Russian drone strikes that have frequently targeted the city since 2024.

The agreement was established to facilitate the evacuation of Oleshky, a town located across the Dnipro River from Kherson. Russian forces occupied Oleshky in 2022 and mined the surrounding land, making it difficult for food and medicine to reach residents. Families in the town reported surviving on pickles and boiled weeds. During the truce, hundreds of Oleshky residents were evacuated and transported to northern Ukraine by bus.

In Kherson, the pause allowed people to leave their homes and walk the streets without fear of first-person-view drones equipped with explosives. Olena Soboleva and Anna Herasimenko, both 21, met in the city center to shop and visit a cafe. Soboleva noted the absence of explosions and the sight of families strolling with children. Herasimenko visited a salon, where she painted her nails burgundy, and observed the crowded streets.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman, credited Melania Trump for ensuring the ceasefire occurred. Lubinets stated that he believes such truces can be upheld and honored. The pause in hostilities also allowed Volodymyr Mykolaienko, the former mayor of Kherson, to visit his father’s grave in a part of the city usually filled with drones. Mykolaienko, 66, was held as a prisoner of war by Russian forces in early 2022 and was released in a prisoner exchange last year.

Mykolaienko described the visit as an opportunity to talk to his father and thank him for his life. He walked past the crushed remains of an administrative building, where locals stopped to shake his hand. He said he spends much of his time walking around the city rather than sitting at home. Svitlana Vorobiova, a retired police officer, traveled from a safer city to take photos at a Greek-style monument marking the city's gateway. She brought her son, who had not been in Kherson in four years.

The city's infrastructure shows signs of the ongoing conflict, with heavy mesh nets covering streets and buildings to protect residents from drones. A highway leading into Kherson is also shrouded in these tunnels of netting. At a busy bus stop, oncology nurse Olena Yehorova watched a man play an accordion. She described the truce as a relief that allowed people to breathe, though she noted that residents still move with caution because they cannot trust the Russians.

The ceasefire ended Sunday night, and Yehorova expects new attacks to resume at any time. The brief period of calm allowed for the evacuation of Oleshky and gave Kherson residents a short interval to step outside, shop, and visit loved ones before the routine of drone hunting resumed.