Kherson civilians brace for fighting to resume after brief truce

Sunday marked the end of a limited truce in southeastern Ukraine that offered a rare break from the fighting. The pause in hostilities, which began early Tuesday, allowed civilians in the front-line city of Oleshky to leave their homes. A joint evacuation operation concluded Saturday, moving an estimated 2,000 people out of the besieged area.

Residents could choose to move to territory controlled by Ukraine or Russia, or they could stay in Oleshky with new supplies of food and medicine. Officials did not release the exact number of people who remained in the city. The White House stated that First Lady Melania Trump helped broker the temporary agreement.

President Donald Trump described the break in fighting on social media. He said the ceasefire gave people in Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region the freedom to move and access to basic needs. He noted that residents regained a sense of dignity without the constant threat of attack. Trump called for Oleshky to serve as a starting point for lasting peace.

While the local truce held, aerial strikes continued in other parts of the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia is targeting Ukraine's energy systems before winter. He reported that hundreds of thousands of families lost power overnight. Zelensky said Russian forces are trying to exploit Ukraine's shortage of ballistic missile interceptors to maximize the damage.

In the city of Kherson, residents remained calm despite knowing the quiet would not last. Oleksandr Knyha, the head of the Mykola Kulish Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater, addressed an audience at a concert. He told them not to be afraid and to keep holding on. The theater performs every weekend and plans to continue next weekend, even as officials warn that Russian forces have added more weapons and personnel to the area.

Knyha said the company has worked on the frontline for four years without canceling a show. The group now performs in a basement and is preparing an additional bomb shelter. About 100 of the theater's 120 staff members work in Kherson, and none has left the city. Knyha is originally from Oleshky on the occupied side of the river and commuted to Kherson for work. He said his hope of returning home is what keeps him in the city.

Costume maker Alla Vasylenko, 58, said the silence of the brief truce still frightened her. She believes the situation will return to how it was before the pause because trusting the Russians means not trusting oneself. On the final day of the ceasefire, the theater staged a concert featuring a musical map of Ukraine. The performance included songs from the Crimean Peninsula to the Carpathian mountains.

Knyha said uniting people and giving them hope is part of the theater's job. The company used the final day of the truce to perform for the community. The localized peace in Oleshky ended Sunday evening. Aerial strikes elsewhere in Ukraine continued as winter set in.