By Dan Peleschuk and Lina Golovnya
KYIV, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine accused Russia on Monday of taking advantage of a rare, US-backed humanitarian ceasefire last week in the southern Kherson region to strengthen its military position there.
Nearly 800 people were evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, according to US first lady Melania Trump, said by the White House to have brokered the six-day pause in fighting around the town. Both sides have praised the initiative as a success.
But in a statement on Monday, Kyiv's General Staff said Russian forces had also used the truce to rotate troops, boost defences and improve battlefield logistics.
"Under the ceasefire introduced for the humanitarian operation in Oleshky, units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine ensured that the ceasefire was observed and acted exclusively within the framework of the agreements reached," it said on X.
"The enemy, by contrast, used the humanitarian pause to improve its positions."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he did not have specific information on any movements, but that adjusting positions during a ceasefire was "standard practice" and it was safe to assume Ukraine had done the same.
REPORTS OF NEW FIGHTING
On Saturday, starved and exhausted Oleshky residents were greeted by elated relatives on the Ukraine-Belarus border after a complex journey through occupied Ukrainian territory and Russia.
The ceasefire, which took effect on October 27, expired at 2100 GMT on Sunday. It was the longest local pause in fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Despite the rare break, battles have raged on along the rest of the 1,200-km front line, where Russian forces are grinding forward in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
In a video address on Facebook, Ukraine's 34th Separate Marine Brigade warned residents of the Kherson region that there were reasons to expect an eruption of new hostilities after the ceasefire ended.
Yaroslav Shanko, head of the Kherson City Military Administration, said there had been a drone strike in the city, which lies opposite Oleshky across the Dnipro River in Ukrainian-held territory. No casualties were reported.
Kherson region Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russia had struck 16 settlements in Ukrainian-held parts of the region with artillery or air attacks in the 24 hours up to 0400 GMT on Monday.
OFFICIALS HOPE FOR FUTURE EFFORTS
Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said fewer than 750 people were left behind after the evacuations, adding that there would be monthly humanitarian aid deliveries to the town.
In a briefing in Kyiv on Monday, Ukrainian human-rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said both sides had upheld their obligations. He declined to say how many people were evacuated to Ukrainian-held territory and Russia, or how many had chosen to remain in occupied territory.
Lubinets also said he and Lantratova were asking the US first lady to facilitate future efforts in other war-hit areas of Russian-occupied Ukraine.
But he was cool on whether such initiatives could play a central role in a broader US-backed peace push that has struggled to end the fighting.
"At least we saw that, to save lives — although it is not easy — it's possible to reach agreements," he said. "I very much want this to become the first step toward stopping active hostilities."
(Editing by Daniel Flynn and Gareth Jones)
