After years under fire, a rare quiet settles over Ukrainian city as truce holds

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — A planned six-day ceasefire brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump and tied to a humanitarian aid mission in a Russian-occupied town has brought rare quiet to the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson across the water.

Four years ago, crowds filled the central square of this southern port city, draped in Ukrainian flags and hugging the troops who had ended months of Russian occupation. Many thought the hardest part was behind them. Instead, the war took a new form.

Kherson sits directly across the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied part of the region. From the other bank, Moscow forces have kept up regular attacks with everything from guided aerial bombs to explosive-laden first-person-view drones that prowl the skies, turning the city into a front line.

Melania Trump, who previously hasn't been publicly involved in ceasefire negotiations, brokered the localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine around Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city that she said is “on the brink of disaster.” It spread to the other side of the river within the Kherson region, which is only partially under Russian control.

A local pause in fighting started at 3 a.m. Tuesday to allow medicine, food and water to be taken to Oleshky before evacuation corridors are opened later in the week. The situation in Oleshky is desperate, with food and medical supplies running perilously low for the up to 2,000 people still there, as drones and land mines restrict movement.

So on Wednesday, after a full day of quiet, more people than usual were out on the streets in Kherson, enjoying the short glimpse of peaceful life, though many said the calm still felt unsettling. Some stocked up on groceries. Others sawed firewood to prepare for a hard winter. Others simply strolled, taking advantage of the silence.

Hanna Llianna, 61, came to the city center for the first time in nearly two years to have a coffee and take a walk. Still, she avoids the neighborhoods closer to the river, where she once ran a small grocery store, because she is afraid to see what the war has done to them.

“It will be very hard if what we had comes back,” she said. “You lift your spirits like this now, and when it returns, it will be very hard.”

Municipal workers used the lull to repair and extend the netting that shields streets from drones. Kherson bears deep scars of war, with plywood covering windows and shattered glass everywhere. Billboards show faded ads, and many shops and offices have been shut for years.

Farther from the center, whole blocks have every window blown out, with only signs recalling what the buildings once were, such as a university or a hospital.

Normally empty because they lie in the dangerous zone, these areas were now dotted with people checking on their property and collecting belongings.

One of them was Anton Shakhunov, who drove to a heavily damaged building where he once rented an apartment. He was its last holdout but had to leave this spring after an attack drone hit the roof and set it aflame.

He moved, but his thoughts stayed in the once fancy apartment he had rented as a sign of success after his business took off a few years before Russia’s full-scale invasion, which eventually took it away.

Now he wanders the fifth-floor apartment, where the windows are gone, doors have been ripped from their frames, and only large furniture covered in dirt suggests anyone lived there.

“Here is the Russian world in all its beauty,” he repeated several times. “So many memories are tied to this apartment.”

It felt strange to drive there without fearing for himself or his car, he said.

“I’d like it to stay this way as long as possible, but thanks for at least a week.”

“It’s quiet now, the drones aren’t flying, so people have started moving around. The scariest thing now is the drones,” said Oleksii Kroshchenko. “Guided bombs aren’t much fun either,” his wife, Liudmyla Shevchenko, quickly cut in, adding how drones have emptied the streets.

Kherson was among the first places where Russian forces began using short-range FPV drones against civilians. The drones carry livestreaming cameras that let operators see and choose their targets in real time. In last year’s report, the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said the attacks have repeatedly killed and wounded civilians, destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee, concluding they amount to the crimes against humanity of murder and forcible transfer.

The quiet finally let Shevchenko tidy her garden and replant flowers, including tulips. “I put things in order, because before you couldn’t. You go out, and it’s flying,” she said of the drones. “You barely step outside, and you hide.”

On Tuesday she pruned the grapevines, frequently mistaking the whistle of the strong wind for the sound of a drone.

“I hope I’ll need to buy saplings and plant new trees,” she said, hoping a happier period lies ahead for the city.

Yet even the silence takes getting used to. It is broken only by distant blasts that the military attributes to demining.

Another deadly danger remains: mines that Russian forces scatter remotely. A military press officer was killed by one Tuesday, and residents walked carefully because fallen leaves now cover much of the ground and can hide explosives.

Many also fear Russia will use the pause to stockpile drones and bring more forces closer.

“It will end, and they will terrorize us,” said Oleksandra Kostenko, who lived through the occupation and has left the city only once since, briefly. “That’s what we’re afraid of.”

Many residents who remain say they cannot afford to start over elsewhere. But Yuliia Orlova said that she and her husband have begun considering leaving, convinced the city that was once the region’s main artery no longer has a future.

Orlova took advantage of the quiet to visit her mother Tuesday in a riverside district usually too heavily shelled to reach. Still, she worried Russia would use the ceasefire to regroup.

“Perhaps they are observing it this week, but that will only allow them to bring in more ammunition,” Orlova said. “God willing, it will help the people there (in Oleshky) to get out. I think that is the most important thing."

AP journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko and Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A woman walks across a street beneath anti-drone nets stretched over a street during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man walks in front of a residential building damaged in a Russian attack during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman walks in front of a residential building damaged in a Russian attack during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A local woman walks in front of a residential building damaged in a Russian attack during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A local man rides a bicycle beneath anti-drone nets stretched over a street during a local ceasefire related to a humanitarian aid mission in Oleshky, in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes hadn't watched the tape of the Chiefs' game against the Los Angeles Chargers from last December — that game in which he tore ligaments in his left knee and Kansas City was eliminated from postseason contention — until just this week.

Even then, Mahomes didn't spend a whole lot of time dwelling on it.

“We've gotten by that pretty quickly,” he said.

That was evident in the rematch Sunday, a comprehensive 22-6 victory that kept Kansas City one of the NFL's final three unbeatens, and kept the Chargers one of the final two teams that have yet to win a game.

“Last year to me put football in perspective,” said Mahomes, who had 272 yards passing in his 100th career win. “We played in so many Super Bowls, and even last year when stuff wasn't going right, it was like, ‘We’re going to figure it out and make it happen.'”

The Chiefs never did figure it out. But they sure seem to have this year.

Much of it has to do with Kenneth Walker, their big free-agent acquisition, who ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. Xavier Worthy added seven catches for 73 yards, and Travis Kelce hauled in five passes for 53, helping the Chiefs (5-0) to overcome injuries to Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton that had thinned their wide receiver corps.

“It's great to win in this league. And it's hard. It's a hard thing to do,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who improved to 23-5 in regular-season games following a bye. “They're not always going to be pretty, but you have to battle through.”

Kansas City joined San Francisco and Minnesota — both 5-0 — as the league’s only undefeated teams.

The game was hardly pretty on either side: The Chiefs had to overcome a myriad of short-yardage shortcomings and Harrison Butker missed a PAT and a field-goal try, while Los Angeles turned the ball over twice in another dismal offensive performance.

Justin Herbert finished with 204 yards passing with an interception. The Chargers ended up with 259 yards of total offense.

“It's obviously been tough,” Herbert said, “and now there's nothing we can do to look back and change what has happened.”

The Chargers, fresh off consecutive 11-win seasons, are mired in their worst start since 2000, when they matched their 1975 team by losing their first 11 games. The only other team that has yet to win this season is Miami, which is 0-5 and had the week off.

“There's no justification,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “There's nothing I would say that wouldn't sound like an excuse. I'm opposed to that to the core, and pointing fingers. But I believe this is a team game. Definitely, offensively, we need to evaluate. We need to look at it all — everything we're doing, how we're doing it.”

The Chiefs largely dominated Los Angeles from start to finish.

Walker, who leads the NFL in rushing, showed exactly why as they were adding to their early 3-0 lead. He squirted through a hole at the line of scrimmage, ran away from the last defender and scored from 33 yards out to extend Kansas City's advantage.

Walker added a 2-yard TD plunge later in the half, bouncing away from a defensive tackle and finding a crease into the end zone.

“The first guy never tackles him,” Mahomes said with a smile.

The banged-up Chargers, meanwhile, had no answers when they had the ball.

Herbert threw an inexplicable interception to Jack Cochrane to end a drive, his league-leading eighth of the season. Later, the Chargers quarterback ran right into the arms of Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton on third down, forcing Los Angeles to a punt.

The offensive ineptitude wasn't entirely Herbert's fault, though. The Chargers were missing offensive linemen Joe Alt and Kayode Awosika to injuries, along with leading receiver Tre' Harris. And the problems compounded in the second quarter, when wide receiver Ladd McConkey — just back from missing a game with a foot problem — was declared out with a concussion.

The Chargers tried to mount a second-half comeback, driving inside the Kansas City 15. But a run went nowhere and Herbert threw a pair of incompletions, forcing them to kick their second field goal, and the Chiefs controlled the game from there.

“You know,” Herbert said, “all those guys in that locker room care about each other — about this team — and we have the right guys. It hasn’t gone our way, but I know they’re going to continue to show up and give their best effort, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Chiefs CB Chris Roland-Wallace was ejected for throwing a punch at Chargers RT Alex Harkey early in the fourth quarter.

Chargers: CB Deane Leonard (concussion) left in the second half. ... S Derwin James Jr. (hamstring), CB Donte Jackson (hamstring) and EDGE Bud Dupree (neck) were inactive.

Chiefs: RT Jaylon Moore (concussion) left in the second quarter. ... TE Travis Kelce left briefly in the first half with an ankle injury. ... CB Nohl Williams missed a few plays early with a shoulder injury, but finished the game.

Chargers: Have a much-needed bye week off.

Chiefs: Visit Seattle next Sunday night.

This story has been corrected. A previous version erroneously reported the San Francisco 49ers were on their bye the same week as the Chargers-Chiefs game. The 49ers played on Monday, Oct. 19.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Los Angeles Chargers running back Keaton Mitchell (34) runs the ball as Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton (32) gives chase during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton, left, as Herbert runs the ball during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

WNBA player Caitlin Clark, from left, Este Haim, and Taylor Swift watch play between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Adds Este Haim

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) catches a pass and is tackled by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, rear, during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, center left, and Kenneth Walker III (9) celebrate a touchdown scored on a rushing play by Walker III during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)