MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
A short truce between Russia and Ukraine has ended. It was brokered last week by First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo. The truce enabled the evacuation of hundreds of residents from a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine. The pause in attacks also covered a frontline city that got to experience a few days of peace. NPR's Joanna Kakissis traveled there and sends us this report.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: The highway into the frontline city of Kherson is shrouded in tunnels of heavy mesh nets. They help keep out the Russian drones that hunt and kill civilians here every day. This weekend, cars pulled up next to the city's monumental gateway, its name written atop Greek-style columns. Svitlana Vorobiova, a retired police officer, drove here from a safer city where she now lives. She took photos with her children at the monument.
SVITLANA VOROBIOVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "I have a place here in Kherson, and my parents are also here," she says and then begins to cry. "I brought my son with me. He hasn't been here in four years. He said, 'I cannot believe I'm in my hometown.'"
Inside the city, the tunnels of mesh nets stretch tight over streets and buildings. Volodymyr Mykolayenko, a former mayor of Kherson, strolled past the crushed remains of a once-grand administrative building.
VOLODYMYR MYKOLAYENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "I walk around the city a lot these days," he says. "I cannot sit still at home. I'm always running around." Mykolayenko spent years in Russian prisons. Russian troops captured him in early 2022, when Kherson was under Russian occupation. Ukrainian troops liberated Kherson in late 2022. Mykolayenko was freed last year in a prisoner exchange, and he returned to his hometown. This truce allowed him to go to his father's grave. The cemetery is in a part of the city that's usually filled with drones.
MYKOLAYENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "I could not hold myself back," he says. "I was able to do exactly what I have long wanted to do, to talk to my father, to pray, to thank him for my life and to tell him what has been happening to our city."
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Playing accordion).
KAKISSIS: At a busy bus stop, oncology nurse Olena Yehorova smiles at a gray-haired accordion player.
OLENA YEHOROVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "This truce has been such a relief," she says. "The people in our city have been able to breathe. Of course, we still walk around with caution because you cannot trust the Russians."
The sidewalks filled with families strolling with their kids, shoppers stocking up on supplies and a steady stream of customers heading to a cafe filled with paintings of cats.
(CROSSTALK)
KAKISSIS: Best friends Olena Soboleva and Anna Herasimenko, both 21, walked there together. Soboleva says she's thrilled they can enjoy their coffee outside in the sun in peace.
OLENA SOBOLEVA: There is no drones. There is no explosions. It is like a feeling that no one wants to kill you.
KAKISSIS: Herasimenko says she also managed to walk to a salon, a rare treat.
ANNA HERASIMENKO: I did my nails - paint my nail, yeah.
KAKISSIS: They're beautiful.
HERASIMENKO: Yes, thank you a million. Really, it's definitely a lot of people now walking around, a lot of cars.
KAKISSIS: The two friends live on the same street but usually only see each other face to face about once a month. Now that the ceasefire is over, walking down the street is dangerous again. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kherson, Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUPE FIASCO SONG, "OUTSIDE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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