Residents of Occupied Oleshky Face Starvation and Minefields
Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky face severe food shortages and landmines, while Ukraine delivers aid via drones amid accusations that Russia is using civilians as human shields.
Approximately 1,700 residents of the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region are facing a severe humanitarian crisis. Locals report critical shortages of food, water, power, and heating, with some forced to eat weeds and dogs to survive. To find supplies, residents must navigate the road to Radensk, which they call the road of death due to pervasive landmines and drone activity.
Andrii Sybiha, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, has called for a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians, asserting that Russia bears full responsibility for the disaster. While the Russian military acknowledges supply shortages and claims Ukraine is obstructing aid, Ukrainian officials report that Russia rejected offers for a local ceasefire and evacuation routes. The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Guard have delivered roughly four tonnes of food and medicine via drones, though residents risk punishment from occupying forces for receiving them.
Ukrainian officials accuse the Russian military of blockading the town and using the population as human shields to prevent Ukrainian advances. Separately, President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russian missile attacks on October 7 and 8 that killed at least 34 people in Pryluky and Kramatorsk, including five children.
