Ukraine's Kherson theater performs as local truce ends

Oleksandr Knyha told the audience of the Mykola Kulish Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater not to be afraid and to keep holding on. The theater opened its weekend concert Sunday under a localized ceasefire that is set to expire that evening. The truce, brokered with the help of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump according to the White House, marked the longest pause in fighting since Russia began its full-scale invasion 4.5 years ago.

The quiet allowed for the evacuation of roughly 2,000 civilians from the besieged city of Oleshky. Residents there chose between moving to Ukrainian or Russian controlled territory or staying with new supplies of food and medicine. At the border on Saturday, villagers lined the highway with flags and flashlights to greet the humanitarian convoy. Family members waited for a glimpse of their loved ones as the final groups arrived.

Despite the local calm, aerial strikes continued elsewhere. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media that Russia was targeting energy systems ahead of winter. He said hundreds of thousands of families lost power overnight as Moscow exploited a shortage of air defenses. Zelenskyy described the intensity of the strikes as extremely high and noted that Russian forces were trying to maximize the advantage of Ukraine's lack of ballistic missile interceptors.

In Kherson, Knyha said the company plans to perform next weekend as usual. Local officials warn that Russian forces have added weapons and personnel, and some residents expect shelling to intensify. The theater operates from a basement and is building another bomb shelter. About 100 of the 120 staff members remain in Kherson, and none has evacuated. Knyha noted that the group has worked on the front line for four years and never canceled a show.

Costume maker Alla Vasylenko, 58, said the silence of the truce still frightens her. She believes the situation will return to its previous state because trusting the Russians means not believing oneself. Vasylenko has no plans to leave due to her 10 dogs and the cost of travel, which she estimated at 30,000 to 50,000 hryvnias. She said there is no certainty the war will end until the left bank is liberated.

Knyha, who is from Oleshky on the occupied left bank, commuted to Kherson before the war. He said his hope of returning home is a reason he stays. The theater's Sunday concert featured a musical map of Ukraine, with songs ranging from Crimea to the Carpathian mountains. Knyha said uniting people and giving them hope is part of the job.

Beyond the front line, Russian drone attacks hit the Kyiv region for a second day, wounding a woman and damaging infrastructure. Ukraine's air force reported that 371 of 433 Russian drones were destroyed overnight. In Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region, officials said more than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down. The attack damaged an industrial building in Kstovo and sparked a fire at a local oil refinery.

Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv struck a factory making missile components and air defense facilities in Russia's Rostov region. He wrote that Ukraine is justly defending itself and working to reduce Russia's capability to continue the aggression.