A short ceasefire started on Oct. 27.

It gave people in Ukraine's Kherson region a rare chance to leave.

The area is a "kill zone" by the river.

It is less than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from Russian-controlled land.

Nataliia Diadiuk is 53.

She is one of the few people left in the village of Kozatske.

She uses a white towel and a rag.

She shows Russian drone operators she is a civilian.

She said she wants silence.

She wants to see the people who left, from both sides.

Diadiuk lives on rainwater, firewood and old aid.

Mines are everywhere.

Going outside means dodging every kind of weapon.

A team of reporters reached the red zone.

They could go only because of a small ceasefire.

The ceasefire was tied to an aid mission in Oleshky.

Russia occupies Oleshky.

During the truce, many groups helped people leave.

Ukrainian officials helped.

Police helped.

The Ukrainian Red Cross Society helped.

Volunteers helped.

They evacuated 180 people from riverside communities and Kherson city.

The group included 23 children, the regional administration said.

About 140,000 people remain in the Ukrainian-held part of the region.

Oleksii Shavokin is 54.

He said he now opens his door only a crack.

He listens to the sky.

His house burned down in early 2023 after a mortar attack.

But he repaired it and stayed.

He eats once a day.

He has lost 30 kilograms (66 pounds).

Oleh Tarabaka leads the Nova Kakhovka city military administration.

He said many residents fear they would have nothing to live on elsewhere.

He said officials could not have driven in without the quiet period.

They could not have got people out.

The Red Cross usually evacuates about 10 people a week in the region.

Mykola Taranenko said this.

He leads its rapid response team.

During the ceasefire week, his team took out 32.

Among them were Volodymyr and Kateryna Yakuba.

Both are 77.

They divorced over 20 years ago.

But they left together for Odesa to stay with their daughter.

Kateryna said they needed to leave before the cold set in.

She said she did not know how they would have gotten out otherwise.

Now the truce is over.

Residents again face drones, artillery, glide bombs and airdropped mines.