Oleshky, the Ukrainian city occupied by Russia that is starving to death

MoscowThe city of Oleshky, in the part of Kherson occupied by Russia, has become a symbol of the human tragedy of the war in Ukraine. Trapped on the front line since 2022, in recent months its residents have stopped receiving food because the road that connects the municipality to the outside is completely mined and at the mercy of drones. Without water, electricity, or heating, and now also without food, its inhabitants are trying to survive as best they can and fear the arrival of winter, while the Kremlin refuses to evacuate them and accuses Kyiv of being responsible for the siege.

“People no longer boil grass soup only for the animals, but also for themselves,” recounts a local resident to the newspaper Ukraïnska Pravda. Since the end of May, no vehicle has managed to reach Oleshky with supplies, and some of the drivers have died in the attempt. The Russian army mined the area to prevent a possible Ukrainian offensive, and no one dares to venture into the forests where they used to pick berries and mushrooms, nor approach the river where they used to fish. Until now, the population has subsisted by cultivating their gardens, but the reserves have already run out and the cold will soon destroy everything.

Snow and ice will further isolate the city and prevent the few people who risk setting off on foot or by bicycle on the path to the neighboring town of Radensk, 20 kilometers away, aware that they are exposing themselves to death, from continuing to do so. Those who return carry dozens of kilos of food with the goal of holding out for a few more months. “They know they are doomed, it is terrible, but they know it: they will die of hunger or from the attacks,” explains Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the local military administration controlled by Ukraine, to Reuters.

Oleshky had 24,000 inhabitants before the war and now barely houses about 1,700, including 47 children. The hospital is the last facility that functions there and the only safe place to spend the night. No other essential infrastructure remains. Many local residents have died of hunger or due to diseases, from the lack of medicine, and others have been victims of mines or the drone war. Initially, their bodies were stored in a morgue next to the health center, but the attacks damaged the building and the remains had to be moved to basements. Some families have chosen to bury their own in the patio or garden of their homes, and there are still corpses abandoned in the streets.

Victims of the information war

Given this situation, in recent days, Ukrainian drones have carried out two operations to deliver up to eight tons of food and essential supplies. However, some residents remain skeptical and lament that they have not received any kind of aid. The first shipment did not reach the residents in its entirety and, according to Kyiv's forces, was partially intercepted by Russian soldiers. Moscow's troops deployed on the southern front are suffering from a shortage of supplies due to the medium-range bombing campaign that has been stifling Russian logistics in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions since the summer. The Russian government claims that these deliveries never took place, even though there are videos that attest to them.

Ukraine has proposed on several occasions that Russia agree to a truce to evacuate the residents of Oleshky, but the Kremlin has not accepted it. Kyiv's version is that Moscow wants to use the inhabitants as human shields and slow the advance of Ukrainian troops. The city, occupied by Russian troops since February 2022, is located nine kilometers from the regional capital, Kherson, under Ukrainian control, but on the other side of the Dnieper. The river has become an insurmountable obstacle for both armies, and this stalemate has turned the lives of the surrounding populations into a living hell.

The only possible exit is through the area administered by Moscow. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, denounced before the United Nations that the Kremlin “is trying to isolate Oleshky from the outside world” and “hinder the delivery of food.” “All responsibility for this humanitarian disaster lies with Russia,” he added. In contrast, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rodion Miroshnik, maintains that it is Kyiv that terrorizes civilians with drones. “It is a medieval blockade that uses modern methods,” says the diplomat.

The Russian authorities effectively abandoned the town in 2023, when the Nova Kakhovka dam burst and flooded around forty settlements, including Oleshky. Since then, no humanitarian corridor has been opened, and the residents, who are facing the harshest winter of their lives, have already lost hope.