Winter Threatens Starvation for Besieged Residents of Occupied Ukrainian City

For months, residents of Oleshky, a town on the Dnipro River separating Ukrainian and Russian forces, have faced severe shortages of food and medical supplies. The town lacks electricity, heating and running water, and its exit routes are mined and lined with wrecked vehicles, while drones constantly patrol the skies.

As the town’s population fell below 2,000 and the humanitarian situation worsened, one resident decided to flee through the perilous “road of death.”

The 40‑year‑old former hairdresser trekked 20 kilometres (12 miles) along the partly mined route, fearing “every step could have been my last,” she recounted.

Oleshky, once home to roughly 24,000 people, fell to Russian forces on the first day of the 2022 invasion. Its buildings were shelled and burned, and infrastructure was destroyed. In June 2023, flooding after the Kakhovka Dam collapse—likely caused by Russian military actions—killed hundreds and further devastated the city.

Now, as winter approaches, those remaining in the devastated southeastern Ukrainian town confront starvation or disease, with no humanitarian evacuation agreement in sight.

One woman who fled in August, speaking anonymously for safety, told the Associated Press that “there is nothing left in Oleshky—no food, supplies, medical care or aid whatsoever.”

Both sides trade blame: Russia claims Ukraine deliberately blocks supplies and evacuations, while Kyiv asserts that Moscow is holding civilians hostage.

Ukraine has repeatedly called for a local ceasefire to organize evacuations. Under international law, Russia, as the occupying power, is obligated to ensure the survival needs of civilians under its control, yet it has made no such commitment.

On Oct. 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed an international forum in Poland, describing Oleshky’s suffering as the city being “razed to the ground.”

“We are trying to help these people, but they are under occupation,” Zelenskyy said. “Unblock the city of Oleshky and bring our citizens back.”

In a phone call on Friday, Pope Leo XIV urged President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire that would permit food and medicine deliveries to Oleshky and safe civilian evacuations. The Kremlin reported that Putin expressed support for the Vatican’s efforts to protect the population and secure vital supplies, and indicated a readiness to cooperate.

Remaining residents scavenge for food among ruined buildings or attempt to cultivate vegetables in garden plots. They draw water from wells, use firewood for heat, and face decomposing bodies in a morgue lacking electricity.

The hospital’s basement holds another 100 bodies, according to Tetiana Hasanenko, the exiled head of the city’s Ukrainian military administration.

The U.N. Human Rights Office reported that the last regular road‑delivered food aid was in late May. Meanwhile, Russian‑installed officials said they delivered two tonnes of assistance this month, acknowledging the amount was insufficient.

The U.N. office added that Oleshky’s hospital lacks medicines and basic supplies, drone attacks hinder ambulances from reaching patients, and moving patients elsewhere is unsafe.

Another resident, who fled to Russian‑held Mariupol, described the situation as “impossible to live in Oleshky; there is no life left there,” speaking anonymously for safety.

Even Russian troops have retreated deeper into the occupied Kherson region, farther from the Dnipro, the former hairdresser noted. She added that Moscow‑appointed authorities “gave up on us a long time ago.”

She considered herself fortunate to have survived the trek from Oleshky to the nearby occupied village of Radensk, which, being farther from the front line, offered better conditions.

She recounted that an acquaintance attempting to deliver food to Oleshky was killed when his car came under fire; she saw a photograph of him “covered in blood, with bread and chicken legs scattered around him.”

Hasanenko described the Oleshky‑to‑Radensk route as the “road of death,” noting that “corpses lie on this road and no one is taking them away.” She referenced a recent explosion that killed four people and severely injured an 86‑year‑old man.

Russian forces were expelled from the larger city of Kherson across the Dnipro in 2022 but have mined the roads surrounding Oleshky, according to Lt. Yevhen Voronetskyi of Ukraine’s 34th Separate Marine Brigade. He added that Kyiv’s drones have also remotely mined forest paths used by Russian troops.

Some evacuees who reach Radensk attempt to return to Oleshky with food, driven by “children and immobile elderly parents waiting at home,” Hasanenko noted, adding that at least 35 children remain in the town.

Ksenia Arkhipova, who fled Oleshky in 2022 and now assists others in leaving, reported that nearby occupied towns and villages along the Dnipro share similarly dire conditions and mined routes.

The journey from Oleshky to Radensk takes six to eight hours on foot or by bicycle, she explained, as evacuees may be weakened by hunger, need to wait for attacks to pass, or carry their bikes to avoid mines.

Travel is only feasible in dry weather, Arkhipova warned, adding, “I am terrified of the coming winter; many people in Oleshky will be simply doomed.”

Voronetskyi noted that some residents refuse to abandon their homes or risk the perilous journey.

Russia and Ukraine have discussed a potential temporary ceasefire and humanitarian corridor, but no agreement has been reached, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. “With winter approaching, the issue is urgent,” the office stated.

Despite ongoing communications with Moscow, “Russia has not provided clear, verifiable guarantees for conducting a humanitarian operation,” stated the office of Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets.

Mined roads render evacuation impossible, and not all residents wish to leave, according to Russian‑installed city officials.

Moscow‑appointed governor Vladimir Saldo pledged earlier this month to assist anyone wishing to depart the town. However, the former hairdresser told the AP that residents have repeatedly appealed for a humanitarian corridor and submitted lists of those wishing to leave, to no avail.

The International Committee of the Red Cross indicated readiness to assist an evacuation, but only upon agreement from both sides and with security guarantees for civilians, said ICRC spokesperson Sarah Davies.

Lieutenant Yevhen Voronetskyi of Ukraine’s 34th Separate Marine Brigade said food shortages in Oleshky have persisted for months and are growing “worse and worse.”

His brigade has been dropping drones, each capable of carrying at least 20 kilograms (44 pounds), over the Dnipro into the city with food aid for at least a year. He added that more than seven tonnes of supplies have been delivered since September.

The parcels included canned food, ingredients for baking bread, buckwheat, rice, sugar, candy for children, hygiene kits and medicines such as insulin, he said.

Voronetskyi cautioned that the aid was not intended to sustain the population through winter but to help them “gather their strength, pack their things and still try to leave Oleshky.”

He urged Russia to “come in and take the people out,” adding, “No one will stop you.”

Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia, and Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

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