Localized Kherson Ceasefire Ends After Six Days; Russia Resumes Strikes

A localized ceasefire covering the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky and surrounding parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region ended on the evening of 1 November 2026 after six days. The pause, the longest multi-day truce of the war since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, had allowed humanitarian evacuations and the delivery of food and medicine. Ukraine’s military reported that it evacuated 167 civilians from threatened areas of the southern Kherson region on the final day of the truce, including 22 children and 21 people with limited mobility.

The ceasefire took effect early on 27 October after mediation that involved U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo. It was initially limited to Oleshky, a town on the left bank of the Dnipro that has been under Russian occupation since the first days of the invasion. Routes out of the town had been mined and subject to drone attack. Residents had reported severe shortages of food, water and electricity. The truce was later expanded across wider parts of the region. Neither side reported major violations during the pause itself. Ukrainian officials described it as the biggest de-escalation since 2022.

Ukraine’s General Staff stated that its units observed the ceasefire and acted within the agreed framework. Humanitarian cargo reached its destination and residents who wished to leave returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory. The same statement said Russian forces used the pause to rotate units, fortify positions, expand anti-drone measures along roads and increase logistics activity, including ammunition deliveries. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry proposed an extension. A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Russia declined.

Strikes resumed on 2 November. Local authorities in Kherson city reported that a Russian drone struck a car in the Korabelny district at about 8 a.m., wounding a 62-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man. Another drone hit a medical facility in the city centre. Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin had warned residents to stay away from areas near the Dnipro once the truce expired. Ukraine’s air force also reported that the country’s air alert system was apparently hacked on the evening of 1 November, producing a false radiation warning over Kyiv.

An estimated 2,000 civilians remained in Oleshky when the truce began. They were offered the choice of evacuation toward Ukrainian- or Russian-controlled territory or remaining with replenished supplies. Emotional reunions were reported among those who crossed to the right bank. The town had been cut off by the river on one side and Russian positions on the other. Cooking garden weeds had become a reported survival measure for some residents before the pause.

The war continues elsewhere. Russian drone and missile strikes hit other Ukrainian regions on 1 and 2 November, leaving tens of thousands of households without power in places including Dnipro and Kyiv regions. Ukrainian forces reported drone attacks on industrial sites inside Russia. The Kherson truce remains the only multi-day localized pause of its kind since 2022. Its end returns the front-line city and its occupied suburbs to the previous pattern of daily drone and artillery fire across the Dnipro.

Further evacuations from other threatened settlements in the Kherson region are expected to continue under normal wartime conditions. The status of any remaining civilians in Oleshky who chose not to leave is not yet clear from public statements.