'The city is alive': A brief peace in Kherson, but residents fear what comes next

ByLaura Gozzi and Dan Johnson, Reporting fromKyiv.

Key points

• The population of Kherson has dwindled from over 250, 000 to regarding 65, 000 since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Since Tuesday, Kherson has "literally come back to life, " Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets remarked.
• "Ever since the ceasefire was announced, there's been total silence, " remarked Olga, 42, speaking by phone from Kherson.
• For a number of days, Russian forces have been working to clear the road of mines, ahead of a planned evacuation of Oleshky's civilians on Friday.
• On Thursday, Angela headed back from Kyiv to Kherson to visit his grave for the first time in months.

As a US-brokered temporary ceasefire has allowed residents rare moments of respite from the constant Russian aerial attacks that plague the front line region, the Ukrainian city of Kherson has known its first two days of quiet after plenty of years.

Videos posted on social media indicated residents strolling down streets covered in anti-drone nets and gathering in the city's squares – ordinary activities that usually mean keeping one eye on the sky and one ear out for incoming drones.

"Ever since the ceasefire was announced, there's been total silence, " remarked Olga, 42, speaking by phone from Kherson. "We are all, of course, overjoyed."

"I don't even know what to call it, " she continued, her smile coming through in her voice. "It's as if everything has finally come to an end."

"Individuals are calmly going out, walking, enjoying the autumn sun. What for some is ordinary everyday life, for residents of the Kherson region today is the greatest desire."

Meanwhile, the temporary pause in hostilities – due to end on Sunday – is the result of efforts by US First Lady Melania Trump to broker a safe passage out of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky. It lies on the other side of the Dnipro river from Kherson.

But there are fears that, alongside carrying out the well-publicised "humanitarian operation" – which some American journalists will be invited to witness – the Russians are using the truce to bolster their forces in the area ahead of a renewed onslaught of Kherson from next week.

"They are. Using this lull to strengthen their positions, bring in more military supplies, weapons, ammunition, and drones, and carry out some redeployment of their forces, " an anonymous source working in local administration informed the BBC.

Petro Andriushchenko, Director of Ukraine's Center for Studying the Occupation, notes Kherson locals have informed him that they witnessed a military build-up around Radensk, some 20km (12 miles) from Oleshky.

Its residents will be saved but "we are simultaneously giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit the ceasefire for its own military purposes, " he remarked. Since Russia's units will be stronger, once the ceasefire ends, the situation may be "worse than we saw before. They have enough time to prepare to prolong this action."

Though Kherson residents are clear-eyed regarding what lies ahead, for a brief period this week the city caught its breath.

No violations have been documented on either side since Tuesday. There have been other ceasefires previously, but these were generally not respected, Kherson resident Dima remarked.

"This is the first time the shelling has stopped, people don't quite believe it, " he informed the BBC. "They are going to the shops, drinking coffee, walking around. The city is alive."

On social media, a woman named Yulia wrote regarding her unusually uneventful trip to the supermarket with an edge of disbelief. For once, she remarked, she returned home from the shops "whole and calm, not as usual – scared, sweating from the horror and with a lump in my throat."

This week, dozens of individuals were additionally able to access their belongings and homes in the so-called "red zone" of Kherson – an area so exposed to drones and artillery attacks that it has become unlivable.

"Some are venturing into places where nobody has dared to go for years, filming areas where simply being present has meant – and will once again mean – almost certain death, " remarked Denisa Bohackova, a Czech volunteer who lives in Kherson.

Dima described scenes of "girls, boys, parents, grandmothers" walking down the streets of the red zone carrying suitcases and bags, returning to their flats to see what they could retrieve.

Some of those who returned to the red zone discovered buildings reduced to charred, empty shells; in other cases, homes had been looted. The scale of destruction in some of these places, Bohackova remarked, is "breathtaking".

Others were rushing back for reasons beyond material reservations. Angela Dobrovolska's husband Serhiy was killed two years ago by a grenade dropped by a piloted Russian drone – an instance of a "human safari" attack of the kind that Kherson has become sadly infamous for.

On Thursday, Angela headed back from Kyiv to Kherson to visit his grave for the first time in months. "They say that all the people have rushed to Kherson, " she remarked. "And I'll be going to the cemetery to my husband."

Notably, the population of Kherson has dwindled from over 250, 000 to regarding 65, 000 since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It will enter its sixth year in February.

Though civilian life in the city never halted, Bohackova stated, it additionally carried on under the conditions of an active battlefield, with schools, theatres, kindergartens and hospitals moved underground.

"An ordinary civilian from Kherson has experienced more of this war than many soldiers, " Bohackova remarked.

Olga, who is raising two children, described regular blackouts, mines dropped by drones and concealed by fallen leaves, drone fragments ricocheting, and a city that typically shuts by the afternoon.

But since silence fell on the city, Olga managed to live a normal life. She drove to a different town and took the bus to another district to visit her grandmother with her son. As were the cafes, around her, the shops were full. After years of quiet streets, "there was even a small traffic jam, " she smiled. But the clock is ticking.

After which the ceasefire will be over, the evacuation of nearby Oleshky is due to be completed by Sunday. "The concern is that, starting Monday, things could turn truly chaotic, " Olga remarked.

As he and his wife prepared to visit their flat in the red zone for the first time in a number of months, "We know the strikes will resume, and that they will increase, " remarked Dima.

"These few days showed us how it could be if it all finally ended."

For now, ' The city is alive' : A brief peace in Kherson, but residents fear remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.