2,000 Civilians Evacuated from Oleshky as Truce Ends

An estimated 2,000 civilians left the front-line city of Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region during a limited ceasefire that concluded on Sunday evening. The White House stated that U.S. First Lady Melania Trump helped broker the truce, which began on Tuesday and marked the longest pause in fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion began nearly five years ago.

The temporary halt in hostilities allowed for a rare joint evacuation operation that ended on Saturday. Residents of Oleshky were given the option to move to Ukrainian or Russian controlled territory or stay in the city with new supplies of food and medical aid. Officials did not release the final headcount of those who remained after the evacuation concluded.

At the border on Saturday, family members gathered to meet arriving relatives. Residents from nearby villages lined the highway, waving flags and holding flashlights to greet the humanitarian convoy as it passed.

While the local truce ended, the wider war continued. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on Sunday that Russian forces maintained heavy attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure ahead of winter. He stated that hundreds of thousands of families lost power overnight as Moscow attempted to exploit a shortage of Ukrainian air defenses.

Zelenskyy posted on social media that the intensity of the strikes was extremely high. He noted that Russian forces were trying to take maximum advantage of the lack of ballistic missile interceptors.

In Kherson, life continued with a sense of routine despite the looming end of the quiet. Oleksandr Knyha, head of the Mykola Kulish Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater, told an audience on Sunday to keep holding on. The theater performs every weekend and plans to do so again next week, even as local officials warn that Russian forces have increased weapons and personnel in the area.

Knyha said the company has never canceled a performance in four years. The troupe now operates from a basement and is building an additional bomb shelter. About 100 of the 120 staff members remain in Kherson, and none have evacuated.

Alla Vasylenko, a 58-year-old costume maker for the theater, said the silence of the truce still frightens her. She has no plans to leave because she has 10 dogs and lacks the means to travel. She estimated the trip would cost between 30,000 and 50,000 hryvnias, or roughly $650 to $1,080.

On the final day of the ceasefire, the theater staged a concert featuring a musical map of Ukraine, with songs from Crimea to the Carpathian mountains. Knyha said the performance was intended to unite people and give them hope.

Outside Kherson, a Russian drone attack killed three people in the Vinnytsia region, including a 13-year-old girl. The drone struck the grounds of a vocational school, wounding four others, including two 5-year-old girls and a 16-year-old boy, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

Ukrainian air force data from Sunday showed that Moscow launched 433 drones overnight. Ukrainian forces destroyed or suppressed 371 of them. In response to Ukrainian drone attacks, Russian Governor Gleb Nikitin said more than 100 drones were shot down over the Nizhny Novgorod region. An industrial building in the town of Kstovo sustained damage, and Russian media reported a fire at a local oil refinery.

Local officials in Nizhny Novgorod placed limits on gasoline sales after lines formed at stations. Diesel sales were not affected. Zelenskyy also confirmed that Kyiv struck a factory producing missile components and air defense facilities in Russia's Rostov region.