Fighting has resumed in Ukraine’s Kherson region after a six-day local ceasefire — the longest quiet stretch there since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 — ended. Local authorities said strikes returned on Monday morning, including a hit on a medical facility in central Kherson city.

They also reported that a 62-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man were injured when a Russian drone struck the car they were travelling in. The pause had allowed hundreds of civilians trapped in Russian-occupied Oleshky and nearby areas to leave for Ukrainian-held territory.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Moscow used the humanitarian window to dig in: rotating units, expanding anti-drone gear along roads and moving ammunition. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered that it was “reasonable to assume” Ukrainian forces likewise regrouped, calling that “completely standard practice.”

The truce was brokered with involvement attributed to US First Lady Melania Trump. Russia’s human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova and Ukraine’s Dmytro Lubinets oversaw the corridor, travelled into Oleshky and thanked each other publicly for a pause without reported violations.

Both sides floated repeating similar local pauses elsewhere; Kyiv said it was ready for broader ceasefires. The Kremlin, however, framed Oleshky as “an isolated case” that would not change the stalled settlement process, and Peskov said there were “no similar plans.”

Evacuees reached northern Ukraine on Saturday in emotional reunions after years of hardship in a ruined town. Those who stayed were promised monthly aid deliveries, Lantratova said, also linking that arrangement to Melania Trump’s mediation.

As Kherson came under fire again, Ukrainian drones struck energy sites in several Russian regions, including a Samara refinery hit for the fifth time in a month. The Oleshky pause eased civilian suffering briefly but did little to alter the wider war’s trajectory.

Source: Fighting returns to Kherson region after longest Ukraine war ceasefire (BBC News)