'The city is alive': A brief peace in Kherson, but residents fear what comes next

Image source, ReutersImage caption, The temporary ceasefire in Kherson has provided its residents with the first glimpse of peace in nearly five years.

• Ceasefire extended across Ukraine's Kherson region, officials sayPublished2 days ago.

A cidade ucraniana de Kherson tem vivido seus primeiros dois dias de tranquilidade depois de muitos anos, enquanto um cessar‑fogo temporário mediado pelos EUA permitiu aos moradores momentos raros de alívio diante dos constantes ataques aéreos russos que assombram a região da linha de frente.

Videos posted on social media showed people strolling down streets covered in anti-drone nets and gathering in the city's squares - ordinary activities that usually mean keeping one eye on the sky and one ear out for incoming drones.

Ever since the ceasefire was announced, there's been total silence," said Olga, 42, speaking by phone from Kherson. "We are all, of course, overjoyed.

Eu nem sei o que chamar," ela acrescentou, o sorriso passando pela voz. "É como se tudo finalmente tivesse chegado ao fim.

Since Tuesday, Kherson has "literally come back to life," Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.

People are calmly going out, walking, enjoying the autumn sun. What for some is ordinary everyday life, for residents of the Kherson region today is the greatest desire.

The temporary pause in hostilities - due to end on Sunday - is the result of efforts by US First Lady Melania Trump to broker a safe passage out of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, which lies on the other side of the Dnipro river from Kherson.

Durante vários dias, as forças russas têm trabalhado para desminar a estrada, em preparação para uma evacuação planejada dos civis de Oleshky na sexta-feira.

But there are fears that, alongside carrying out the well-publicised "humanitarian operation" – which some American journalists will be invited to witness – the Russians are using the truce to bolster their forces in the area ahead of a renewed onslaught of Kherson from next week.

They are... using this lull to strengthen their positions, bring in more military supplies, weapons, ammunition, and drones, and carry out some redeployment of their forces," an anonymous source working in local government told the BBC.

Petro Andriushchenko, diretor do Centro de Estudos da Ocupação da Ucrânia, diz que moradores de Kherson lhe disseram que testemunharam um acúmulo militar em torno de Radensk, a cerca de 20 km (12 milhas) de Oleshky.

Seus residentes serão salvos, mas 'we are simultaneously giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit the ceasefire for its own military purposes,' ele disse. Quando o cessar-fogo terminar, a situação pode ser 'worse than we saw before, because Russia's units will be stronger.

They have enough time to prepare to prolong this action.

Though Kherson residents are clear-eyed about what lies ahead, for a brief period this week the city caught its breath.

No violations have been reported on either side since Tuesday. There have been other ceasefires in the past, but these were generally not respected, Kherson resident Dima said.

Esta é a primeira vez que o bombardeio parou, as pessoas não acreditam muito bem," ele disse à BBC. "Eles estão indo às lojas, tomando café, andando pela cidade.

On social media, a woman named Yulia wrote about her unusually uneventful trip to the supermarket with an edge of disbelief. For once, she said, she returned home from the shops "whole and calm, not as usual - scared, sweating from the horror and with a lump in my throat.

Image source, SuppliedImage caption, "We've managed to adapt to this way of life," Olga said. "We've been living under these conditions for nearly five years now.

This week, dozens of people were also able to access their belongings and homes in the so-called "red zone" of Kherson – an area so exposed to drones and artillery attacks that it has become unlivable.

Alguns estão se aventurando em lugares onde ninguém ousou ir há anos, filmando áreas onde simplesmente estar presente significou — e novamente significará — quase certeza de morte," disse Denisa Bohackova, uma voluntária tcheca que vive em Kherson.

Dima described scenes of "girls, boys, parents, grandmothers" walking down the streets of the red zone carrying suitcases and bags, returning to their flats to see what they could retrieve.

Some of those who returned to the red zone found buildings reduced to charred, empty shells; in other cases, homes had been looted. The scale of destruction in some of these places, Bohackova said, is "breathtaking.

Others were rushing back for reasons beyond material concerns. Angela Dobrovolska's husband Serhiy was killed two years ago by a grenade dropped by a piloted Russian drone - an instance of a "human safari" attack of the kind that Kherson has become sadly infamous for.

Na quinta-feira, Angela voltou de Kiev para Kherson para visitar sua cova pela primeira vez em meses. “Dizem que todas as pessoas se apressaram para Kherson,” ela disse.

And I'll be going to the cemetery to my husband.

The population of Kherson has dwindled from over 250,000 to about 65,000 since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which will enter its sixth year in February.

Though civilian life in the city never stopped, Bohackova said, it also carried on under the conditions of an active battlefield, with schools, theatres, kindergartens and hospitals moved underground.

Um civil comum de Kherson tem vivido mais desta guerra do que muitos soldados," disse Bohackova.

Olga, who is raising two children, described regular blackouts, mines dropped by drones and concealed by fallen leaves, drone fragments ricocheting, and a city that typically shuts by the afternoon.

But since silence fell on the city, Olga has been able to live a normal life. She drove to a different town and took the bus to another district to visit her grandmother with her son.

Ao seu redor, as lojas estavam cheias, assim como os cafés. Depois de anos de ruas silenciosas, “havia até mesmo um pequeno congestionamento,” ela sorriu.

The evacuation of nearby Oleshky is due to be completed by Sunday, after which the ceasefire will be over. "The concern is that, starting Monday, things could turn truly chaotic," Olga said.

We know the strikes will resume, and that they will increase," said Dima, as he and his wife prepared to visit their flat in the red zone for the first time in several months.

These few days showed us how it could be if it all finally ended.

Casa Branca diz que Melania Trump mediou trégua para cidade da Ucrânia 'on brink of disaster.

Em números

• Kherson lhe disseram que testemunharam um acúmulo militar em torno de Radensk, a cerca de 20 km (12 milhas) de Oleshky