Fighting has resumed in Ukraine's Kherson after a six-day truce brought quiet to the front-line region for the first time in years. The ceasefire - the longest since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 - allowed hundreds of people trapped in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky and its surroundings to be evacuated. On Monday morning, local authorities confirmed that strikes had resumed, saying Moscow had hit a medical facility in Kherson city centre.
They also said a 62-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man were injured when a Russian drone attacked the car they were travelling in. Ukraine also accused Russian forces of using the humanitarian ceasefire to strengthen their military positions, rotate units and deliver ammunition. "The enemy used the humanitarian pause to set up their positions," said Ukraine's General Staff, adding they had recorded rotation of Russian units, expansion of anti-drone equipment on the roads, and delivery of ammunition.
The Kremlin appeared to corroborate this when spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "reasonable to assume that the Ukrainian army also used this period for the necessary regrouping". "It is a completely standard practice in such situations," he added. The ceasefire had been brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
Both Kyiv and Moscow thanked her repeatedly, though no details of her involvement were shared. An unusual show of cooperation came from Russia's human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova and her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets. The pair oversaw the ceasefire, travelled into Oleshky and were filmed speaking to residents together.
They publicly thanked each other for their work, often highlighting that no violations of the ceasefire had been observed. Both Lantratova and Lubinets called for the initiative to be repeated elsewhere, and Ukraine repeatedly said it would be prepared to observe similar ceasefires on a national level too. But many have questioned whether this will lead to more cooperation and further truces.
In fact, the Kremlin swiftly dismissed the idea even as the ceasefire was under way, calling Oleshky "an isolated case" which would not affect the "settlement process" – a euphemism for the stalled peace talks. "There are no similar plans or initiatives," Peskov reiterated on Monday. And although last week the guns fell silent in Kherson region, elsewhere in Ukraine Russia's air strikes continued, killing scores of civilians and destroying crucial infrastructure.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
