LEILA FADEL, HOST:
A ceasefire brokered by Pope Leo and Melania Trump in a corner of southern Ukraine has ended. The truce enabled the evacuation of hundreds of residents in a Russian-occupied town, and across the river in the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, the truce also allowed residents to walk the streets without being targeted by Russian drones. NPR's Joanna Kakissis traveled there this weekend and is on the line from Kyiv. Good morning, Joanna.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK, so what was Kherson like?
KAKISSIS: Well, Leila, tunnels of heavy-duty nets cover nearly every street and many of the buildings in Kherson, if you can imagine that. These nets help protect residents from drones because for the last couple of years, Russian soldiers have used FPV, or first-person view drones strapped with explosives, to actually hunt and kill civilians in Kherson. So Russian troops are also about a mile away across a river. They also drop a lot of guided air bombs into the city.
Now, this is a city I first visited in late 2022, right after Ukrainian forces freed Kherson from Russian occupation. Last time I was there was about a year ago. It's a lovely city filled with parks, but, you know, Russian forces have destroyed so many buildings there, and people never left their homes while I was there last time without drone detectors and sometimes even body armor.
FADEL: So how much has changed since you were last there, especially given there was a ceasefire this weekend?
KAKISSIS: Well, Leila, the locals were not wearing body armor this time, and the city did show signs of normal life.
(CROSSTALK)
KAKISSIS: We saw people strolling outside with their kids, stocking up on groceries, having coffee in the sun. And at one very busy cafe, we met two best friends, Anna Hersomenko (ph) and Olena Soboleva (ph). They are 21 years old, and here's Olena.
OLENA SOBOLEVA: There is no drones. There is no explosions. It is like a feeling that no one wants to kill you.
KAKISSIS: And Anna told us she took the opportunity to walk to a salon.
ANNA HERSOMENKO: Last two days, I did my nails. Paint my nail. Yeah.
KAKISSIS: They're beautiful.
HERSOMENKO: Yes. Thank you a million. Really, it's definitely a lot of people now walking around. A lot of cars.
KAKISSIS: Now, these two friends, Leila, live on the same street, but they only see each other in person about once a month because it's usually so dangerous to walk outside.
FADEL: Wow. So a little bit of a respite for them. So Kherson relaxed a little during the ceasefire, as you pointed out. This truce, though, was negotiated to help a town across the river. What happened there?
KAKISSIS: Well, yeah, Russia and Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire to help the town of Oleshky. This town is occupied by Russian forces, which mined the land around it. Trucks delivering food and medicine could not get in for several months. Some residents in Oleshky were eating boiled weeds to survive. Now, during the ceasefire, hundreds of residents were evacuated from the town, and many went to northern Ukraine to meet their families.
FADEL: Now, the truce ended Sunday night. So does that mean back to war for everyone?
KAKISSIS: Well, I should note that this was a successful truce because it lasted several days and no violations were reported. But, you know, everyone we spoke to in Kherson was already really nervous as the deadline for the truce's end approached.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Playing accordion).
KAKISSIS: We met oncology nurse Olena Yehorova (ph) at a bus stop. What you're hearing is a gray-haired musician playing the accordion at that bus stop. Olena kept looking up at the sky for drones while we were talking.
OLENA YEHOROVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: And she's saying, "I'm so anxious because I just cannot trust the Russians." And she also said that she is bracing herself for new attacks now that the truce is over.
FADEL: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Thank you so much for your reporting.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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