Kherson (Ukraine) (AFP) – Past the checkpoints and the armed soldiers, a short break for a selfie in front of the entrance to Kherson, and, a few minutes later, she finally emerges from a muddy path: “home”!

Published on: 01/11/2026 - 10:33

Refugee in the Odessa region, in southern Ukraine, the Mayfeld family took advantage of a short humanitarian truce on this part of the front line to return home.

A first in almost five years of war with Russia.

Mute, the four children wait timidly for their mother to open the gate, before rushing into the pretty garden carpeted with autumn leaves.

Yuliia, 39, struggles to hold back her tears: “it’s been so long, so long,” she repeats, a huge smile on her lips. “We had just completed the renovation when we left, after four months under Russian occupation.”

After the Ukrainian counter-offensive which allowed Kherson to be retaken in November 2022, returning would have been even more dangerous. The residents remaining in the city live in the crossfire of the two enemy armies, at the mercy of drones and bombs which rain down by the dozens every day.

Cries of joy resonate.

Nothing has changed under the old thick trees: the slide, the wooden cabin, and the new walls of the building, where the parents had fun marking with black marker, as they grew, the height of the youngest siblings, Sofiia and Viktoriia.

The twins, now nine years old, "don't remember well," explains Yuliia, whose husband, a sailor who is often absent, is currently sailing in the China Sea. “I am here so that my children can experience this feeling of being at home, this inner feeling linked to home, to the place where they were born.”

"Hell"

Pavlo, 11, runs up the stairs leading to his room filled with toys. He hasn't forgotten the last birthday he celebrated with his childhood friends: "two of them went to Poland, and I haven't seen them since. Another flew to Italy," he says in a sad whisper.

“I miss this city very much.”

Like the Mayfelds, many residents displaced to the north or west of the country have braved fear in recent days, taking advantage of the ceasefire to come collect belongings, check if Russian strikes had spared their homes, or simply stroll the streets of Kherson.

Faced with the intensity of the bombings, around three quarters of the 280,000 inhabitants fled Kherson, built on the banks of the Dnieper, which marks the front line - and where many neighborhoods classified as "red zones" are now ghosts.

Danger lurks on every sidewalk, public square where Russian soldiers have planted thousands of improvised explosive devices and antipersonnel mines dropped by drones.

“It’s very painful to see my city like this,” confides Lyuba Kryvoroutchko, 33, in front of the remains of a building in ruins, like countless buildings in the center. “Everything has changed so much, words fail me... I just wanted to go home while I still had the chance.”

Everyone here fears the outcome of the truce planned for Sunday evening.

“It’s going to be hell, even worse than before,” predicts a local military source, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Russian forces, positioned on the other bank of the river, took advantage of the calm of the last few days to amass new troops, transport stocks of ammunition, and collect intelligence on Ukrainian positions using surveillance drones, according to the officer.

"To travel"

That leaves 24 hours for Yuliia Mayfeld to show her children a fragment of the life left behind. The pretty woman with long blond hair takes out of a box a photo from a bygone time where the entire family poses, happy, carefree.

“I don’t wish anyone to have such an experience. It touches the soul, deeply,” she says tenderly.

"When we are at home, we are at home. We want to hug the walls. We want to walk through each room, doing household chores like in the old days..."

Ivan, the eldest, 16 years old, remains silent and does not smile once. “We were all sleeping there when the bombing started,” he said indifferently, pointing to a corner of the living room.

The teenager wants to become a sailor, like his father, and travel the seas of the world.

“It’s sad,” he finally said. “I would like to visit the city center (...) one last time and probably close the Kherson chapter.”

On Sunday, they will return to the exodus.

© 2026 AFP

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