Oleshky: about 6,000 people trapped without power, gas and regular food
Occupied by Russian forces, the town has seen deliveries stop and Kyiv is pressing for an organised evacuation.
About 6,000 people in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky live without electricity, gas or regular food supplies and face a worsening humanitarian crisis as winter approaches. Kyiv officials say food deliveries to the town stopped at the end of May, and negotiations to open an evacuation corridor have not yet produced a concrete operation.
Residents describe daily shortages and rising prices for basic staples. One local who identified himself by sending a photo called his meal an “Oleshky borscht” — a soup made from leftovers: five potatoes, one beet, a tomato, an onion, a courgette and asparagus, with millet and two eggs added to make it more filling. A large sack of flour was recently being offered for about 200,000 rubles, and a kilo of courgettes sold for 1,000 rubles.
Tetiana Khasanenko, head of the Ukrainian military administration responsible for Oleshky from territory under Kyiv’s control, says she receives frequent messages from residents. "I receive such messages every day. People want someone to give them hope, but there is no hope," she says, warning that the situation has moved from widespread hunger to outright famine in parts of the town.
Access blocked by mines and damaged infrastructure
Oleshky, in Kherson region on the left bank of the Dnipro, has been occupied by Russian forces since the full-scale invasion. The town was almost completely flooded in June 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed, and conditions deteriorated further in December 2025 when snow covered mines in the streets and residents began digging out cellars for old winter preserves that are now exhausted.
Travel is dangerous: roads are heavily mined and many people have been injured by explosive devices. "You set off and you can die on the way," a resident, Halyna (name changed for safety), says. She reports limited medical care: "The hospital has a surgeon, but there is no anesthesiologist nor medicines." Kyiv says it has been negotiating with Moscow since spring to arrange evacuation, and the parliamentary ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets warned that at least 358 people need urgent evacuation — a figure that likely understates the total number in need. "These people must be saved because the town has become a deadly trap," he said.
Photo: press material from the event
