KYIV, Ukraine – Russian forces resumed attacks on Ukraine’s Kherson region on Monday morning, ending the longest pause in fighting since the war began in 2022.

The rare ceasefire, which US First Lady Melania Trump brokered, lasted from Tuesday until Sunday. The pause allowed a humanitarian mission to reach the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky and enabled hundreds of stranded citizens to leave.

At around 08:00 on Monday, Russian forces attacked a car with a drone in the Korabelny district of Kherson city. The strike wounded a woman (62) and a man (73), who both received hospital treatment.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Sunday that Russia refused a Ukrainian offer to extend the truce.

Kherson’s regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin warned local residents to stay vigilant when the ceasefire ended.

Ukraine’s military said Russia used the pause to strengthen its positions.

Russian attacks also killed one person in Izium, a city in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region, according to the local governor.

US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine will resume this month.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected calls for a wider ceasefire. It says it will continue its full-scale offensive to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine.

The war, now in its fifth year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.

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