Nearly 800 people were evacuated from Olechky, a city under Russian occupation in Ukraine’s Kherson region, during a humanitarian ceasefire, Melania Trump said on X. She described the operation as a success and said it had also enabled essential aid to reach the area.
The truce, negotiated by the wife of the US president, began on Tuesday and ended on Sunday as planned. Melania Trump thanked Russia and Ukraine for their cooperation and said she hoped the arrangement would serve as a foundation for lasting peace between the two countries.
Ukraine’s military said the ceasefire had allowed humanitarian supplies to be delivered and residents who wished to leave Olechky to reach territory controlled by Kyiv. At the same time, Ukraine’s general staff accused Russian forces of using the pause to rotate units, reinforce positions, increase anti-drone defenses and improve logistics, including ammunition supplies.
After the truce ended, Ukrainian authorities reported renewed attacks in the Kherson region. The regional military administration said a Russian drone struck a car in Kherson’s Korabelny district at about 8 a.m., injuring two people.
Other attacks reported by Ukrainian authorities killed at least one person in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and another in Izium, in the Kharkiv region. The strike on Izium also injured at least three people and hit a four-storey residential building, according to the regional administration.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 193 attack drones and decoy drones overnight from Sunday to Monday, with 154 drones shot down or otherwise neutralized. Emergency power cuts were also introduced in some Ukrainian regions after Russian strikes caused what national grid operator Ukrenergo called a complex situation in the energy sector.
Sources: Le Monde International.