Kherson ceasefire ends as strikes disrupt power across Ukraine

A six-day ceasefire that allowed hundreds of civilians to leave Russian-occupied Oleshky ended Sunday night without reported violations in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Fighting continued elsewhere, and Russian strikes on energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian households without power.

The limited truce began Tuesday in Oleshky and expanded to surrounding parts of the front-line region. It was arranged with the help of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV. Neither side reported a violation during the pause, and there was no sign of an extension. A Ukrainian official told AFP that Russia had refused a Ukrainian proposal to extend it.

An estimated 2,000 civilians were in Oleshky when the truce began, according to Al Jazeera. Residents could choose to leave for Ukrainian-controlled or Russian-occupied territory, or stay with replenished food and medical supplies. Ukraine’s military said Sunday it had evacuated 167 people from threatened areas of the wider Kherson region, including 22 children and 21 people with limited mobility.

Oleshky residents had faced severe shortages of food, water and electricity. The BBC reported that some had resorted to cooking garden weeds. Although Ukrainian military positions are about 5km (3.1 miles) from the city, evacuees traveling to Ukrainian-controlled territory had to pass through Russian-occupied areas, southern Russia and Belarus before crossing Ukraine’s northern border. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said the oldest evacuee was 94 and the youngest was one.

“The ceasefire across Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region has provided residents with the freedom to move, access to food, clean water, medicine, plus a renewed sense of dignity without the constant threat of attack,” Melania Trump said on social media. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow viewed the evacuation operation and coordination between the countries’ human rights commissioners positively.

As the truce expired, Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin urged residents to avoid areas near the Dnipro River, warning that the threat to life remained high.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian attacks overnight Saturday hit energy facilities in four regions. Repairs restored power to many customers in Dnipropetrovsk by Sunday evening, but more than 60,000 remained without electricity, the regional governor said. Emergency power cuts were in place across Ukraine, and water supplies were disrupted in Kyiv.

Reports differed on the toll from a Russian strike in Vinnytsia region that killed a 13-year-old girl. The BBC, citing Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, reported two deaths; Al Jazeera, also citing the service, reported three deaths and four injuries.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 433 drones overnight, of which 371 were destroyed or suppressed. Zelensky described the intensity of Russian attacks over the past week as “extremely high” and renewed his call for more Patriot missiles to intercept ballistic missiles.

Ukraine also struck targets inside Russia. Zelensky said a strike on a missile-fuel producer in Rostov region caused a fire and damaged four production facilities. In Nizhny Novgorod region, the governor said more than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down; Russian media reported a fire at the Kstovo oil refinery.

On Sunday evening, Ukraine’s Air Force said its air alert application had apparently been subjected to hostile interference after it warned of radiation over Kyiv. “There is no radiation threat!” the air force said.