Ceasefire lasting five days halts drone strikes in Kherson

A temporary ceasefire in southern Ukraine ended on Sunday night, bringing to a close a five day pause in hostilities that allowed civilians in Kherson to emerge from their homes. The truce ran from October 27 to November 1 and was negotiated by Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV. It was designed to facilitate the evacuation of residents from Oleshky, a town on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River from Kherson.

Russian forces have occupied Oleshky since 2022 and mined the surrounding terrain, making the delivery of food and medicine difficult. Families in the town reported surviving on pickles and boiled weeds. During the weekend, hundreds of residents were evacuated on buses and escorted into northern Ukraine. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian ombudsman, thanked Trump for securing the agreement and stated that he believes such truces can be honored.

For the population of Kherson, the break in fighting offered a rare glimpse of normalcy. Since 2024, Russian troops have used first person view drones to target residents. The city’s streets and buildings are covered in heavy mesh nets to protect against these aircraft. During the ceasefire, the sky remained clear, and residents walked freely without fear of explosions.

Olena Soboleva and Anna Herasimenko, both 21, walked through the city center, passing families and shoppers. Herasimenko visited a salon and displayed fresh burgundy nail polish. Soboleva noted that no one seemed to want to kill them. A retired police officer named Svitlana Vorobiova drove from a safer city to visit her parents. She took photographs with her children at a Greek style monument, a spot her son had not seen in four years.

Volodymyr Mykolaienko, the former mayor of Kherson, walked past a damaged administrative building where locals stopped to shake his hand. Mykolaienko, 66, was captured by Russian troops in early 2022 and held as a prisoner of war until his release last year in an exchange. The ceasefire allowed him to visit his father’s grave in a district usually filled with drones. He said he was able to pray and thank his father for his life.

The respite is expected to end abruptly. Oncology nurse Olena Yehorova described the pause as a relief that allowed the city to breathe, though she noted residents still move with caution. She looked up at the clear sky just hours before the truce expired, expecting new attacks to resume at any time.