Brief truce in Kherson allows civilians to step outside

Olena Soboleva and Anna Herasimenko walked down a Kherson street together for the first time in months. Both are 21 years old, and the absence of Russian drones allowed them to meet at a cafe decorated with cat paintings. The two friends described the weekend as a return to normalcy, noting that the sky was clear and the streets were filled with shoppers and families.

The lull in hostilities resulted from a ceasefire agreement reached by First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV. The truce covered a corner of southern Ukraine, including Kherson, and lasted from October 27 to November 1. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman, credited Trump with ensuring the agreement was upheld. He stated that he believes such truces can be honored by both sides.

The primary objective of the pause was to facilitate the evacuation of Oleshky, a town across the Dnipro River from Kherson. Russian troops occupied Oleshky in 2022 and mined the surrounding land, which limited the flow of food and medicine. Families in Oleshky reported surviving on pickles and boiled weeds. During the ceasefire, hundreds of residents were evacuated on buses and escorted into northern Ukraine.

Kherson has faced intense aerial bombardment since 2024. Russian forces based across the river have used FPV drones strapped with explosives to target residents. To protect civilians, the highway into the city is covered with heavy mesh nets, and similar anti-drone nets cover many streets and buildings. Russian troops previously occupied Kherson for several months in 2022 before local partisans helped Ukrainian soldiers retake the city.

The break in fighting allowed residents to visit locations usually too dangerous to approach. Svitlana Vorobiova, a retired police officer, drove from a safer city to take photos with her children at the Greek-style monument marking the city’s gateway. Her son, who had not been in Kherson in four years, expressed disbelief at being back in his hometown. Vorobiova said her parents and a home remain in the city.

Volodymyr Mykolaienko, the former mayor of Kherson, used the time to visit his father’s grave in a part of the city typically filled with drones. Mykolaienko, 66, was arrested by Russian troops in early 2022 and held as a prisoner of war for several years. He was freed in a prisoner exchange last year and has since returned to Kherson. He described the visit as a long-awaited opportunity to pray and thank his father for his life.

Olena Yehorova, an oncology nurse, observed a gray-haired man playing folk music on an accordion at a busy bus stop. She said the truce provided relief to the city, allowing people to breathe, though caution remained necessary. She noted that she still looked up at the sky frequently, expecting new attacks to resume at any time. The truce ended Sunday night, and the threat of aerial attacks returned with it.

The ceasefire marked a rare pause in the daily threat to Kherson’s residents. While the agreement successfully moved people out of Oleshky and allowed civilians to venture outside, the underlying conflict remains active. The city’s infrastructure, including the mesh nets over the highway and streets, remains in place to shield locals from future drone strikes.