For Ukraine's Kherson region, a short ceasefire meant a momentary return to normal life
KHERSON, Ukraine —
asserted
ceasefire → mean → life
In this city where Russian drones usually fill the skies, Olena Soboleva could not easily walk down the street to meet her best friend, Anna Herasimenko.
uncertain
Soboleva → fill → friend
Then came last week's truce, negotiated by First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV, in a corner of southern Ukraine that included Kherson.
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that → come → Kherson
This weekend, the two friends, both 21, took the opportunity to venture outside to autumnal skies clear of drones and guided bombs.
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friends → take → drones
"No drones, no explosions," Soboleva says.
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Soboleva → say → drones
"No one wants to kill you."
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one → want → you
They passed families strolling with their kids, shoppers stocking up on supplies and couples holding hands.
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They → pass → hands
They lined up at a cafe filled with paintings of cats.
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They → line → cats
"The city seems alive," says Herasimenko, "just like it used to be."
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it → seem → ?
Over the weekend, she had also ventured to a salon.
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she → venture → salon
"I did my nails," she says, showing off fresh burgundy polish.
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she → do → polish
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The truce ended Sunday night.
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truce → load → ?
Russia and Ukraine agreed to it in order to help Oleshky, a town across the Dnipro River from Kherson.
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Russia → agree → Kherson
Russian troops occupied Oleshky in 2022 and mined the land around it.
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troops → occupy → it
Food and medicine rarely got through.
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Food → get → ?
NPR spoke to the families of residents there, who said their loved ones survived on pickles and boiled weeds.
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ones → speak → pickles
Over the weekend, hundreds of Oleshky residents were evacuated, eventually escorted into northern Ukraine on buses.
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hundreds → evacuate → buses
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's ombudsman — the country's independent watchdog for human rights — thanked Melania Trump for ensuring that the ceasefire, which lasted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, happened.
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which → thank → Nov.
"I believe they can be upheld and honored," Lubinets said about truces between Ukraine and Russia.
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Lubinets → believe → Ukraine
Russian troops occupied the city for several months in 2022, until local partisans spied for Ukrainian soldiers, who then forced the Russians out of the city.
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who → occupy → city
Since 2024, Russian troops based across the river have hunted Kherson residents with FPV (first-person-view) drones strapped with explosives.
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troops → base → explosives
The highway into Kherson is shrouded in tunnels of heavy mesh nets to protect locals from these drones.
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highway → shroud → drones
These anti-drone nets also cover Kherson's streets and many of its buildings.
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nets → cover → buildings
This weekend, cars pulled up next to the Greek-style monument marking the city's gateway.
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cars → pull → gateway
Svitlana Vorobiova, a retired police officer, drove here from a safer city where she now lives.
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she → drive → city
She took photos with her children at the monument.
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She → take → monument
"I have a place in Kherson, and my parents are also here," she says, and her voice breaks.
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voice → have → Kherson
Tears fill her eyes.
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Tears → fill → eyes
"I brought my son with me," Vorobiova says.
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Vorobiova → bring → me
He said, 'I cannot believe I'm in my hometown!'"
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I → say → hometown
Inside the city, Volodymyr Mykolaienko, a former mayor of Kherson, strolls past the crushed remains of a once-grand administrative building.
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Mykolaienko → stroll → building
Locals stop him and shake his hand.
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Locals → stop → hand
He says he's happy to see so many people outside.
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he → say → ?
"I walk around the city a lot these days," he says.
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he → walk → city
"I cannot sit still at home."
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I → sit → home
Mykolaienko, 66, spent years as a prisoner of war in Russia, confined to tiny rooms, starved and tortured.
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Mykolaienko → spend → rooms
Russian troops arrested him in Kherson in early 2022, when the city was under Russian occupation.
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city → arrest → occupation
Mykolaienko was freed last year in a prisoner exchange and returned to Kherson, where his family still lives.
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family → free → Kherson
This truce allowed him to visit his father's grave.
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him → allow → grave
The cemetery is in a part of the city that's usually filled with drones.
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that → fill → drones
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
