A planned six-day ceasefire brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump has brought rare quiet to the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson KHERSON, Ukraine -- A planned six-day ceasefire brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump and tied to a humanitarian aid mission in a Russian-occupied town has brought rare quiet to the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson across the water. Four years ago, crowds filled the central square of this southern port city, draped in Ukrainian flags and hugging the troops who had ended months of Russian occupation. Many thought the hardest part was behind them.
Instead, the war took a new form. Kherson sits directly across the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied part of the region. From the other bank, Moscow forces have kept up regular attacks with everything from guided aerial bombs to explosive-laden first-person-view drones that prowl the skies, turning the city into a front line.
Melania Trump, who previously hasn't been publicly involved in ceasefire negotiations, brokered the localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine around Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city that she said is “on the brink of disaster.” It spread to the other side of the river within the Kherson region, which is only partially under Russian control. A local pause in fighting started at 3 a.m. Tuesday to allow medicine, food and water to be taken to Oleshky before evacuation corridors are opened later in the week.
The situation in Oleshky is desperate, with food and medical supplies running perilously low for the up to 2,000 people still there, as drones and land mines restrict movement. So on Wednesday, after a full day of quiet, more people than usual were out on the streets in Kherson, enjoying the short glimpse of peaceful life, though many said the calm still felt unsettling. Some stocked up on groceries.
Others sawed firewood to prepare for a hard winter. Others simply strolled, taking advantage of the silence. Hanna Llianna, 61, came to the city center for the first time in nearly two years to have a coffee and take a walk.
Still, she avoids the neighborhoods closer to the river, where she once ran a small grocery store, because she is afraid to see what the war has done to them. Kherson bears deep scars of war, with plywood covering windows and shattered glass everywhere. Billboards show faded ads, and many shops and offices have been shut for years.
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