In the Russian-occupied Oleshky of the Kherson region, people are making soup from wild greens, trying to walk twenty kilometers on mined roads for food, and the hospital is asking residents to bring at least some grains for bedridden patients. The last successful food delivery took place on May 26, 2026. Since then, normal supply has not been restored.
Author: Alexander Khmelnitsky
On September 25, 2026, the American TV channel ABC News published a major report on the humanitarian catastrophe in the city. On the same day, new testimonies from residents, volunteers, and representatives of the Ukrainian administration appeared. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, demanded the safe evacuation of civilians and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
In Oleshky itself, according to the Ukrainian city military administration, about two thousand people remain. Together with the surrounding villages — about six thousand, including 182 children. The exact number cannot be established: communication is almost nonexistent, people disappear from the sight of relatives, some manage to get through minefields on their own.
All this is happening literally opposite the liberated Kherson. Approximately nine kilometers in a straight line, the Dnipro River and the front line separate the two Ukrainian cities.
What Oleshky was like before the Russian invasion
Oleshky (here it is on Google Maps – https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ee37c5txzzY2pryDA) is an ancient city on the left bank of the Dnipro, known for its Cossack history. From 1711 to 1728, the Oleshkovskaya Sich existed nearby. Later, the city was named Tsyurupinsk, and in 2016 it officially regained its historical name.
Before the full-scale war, about 24,000 people lived here. The Oleshkovskaya community — an administrative association of the city with twelve surrounding settlements — had about 40,000 residents.
People from Kherson used to come here to relax, buy groceries, visit the famous Oleshky Sands — a large natural area of sandy landscapes surrounded by forests and Dnipro floodplains. There were hospitals, schools, shops, enterprises, and regular transport communication with the regional center.
In February 2022, normal life ended.
February 24 — April 14, 2022: How Russia captured Oleshky
On the morning of February 24, Russian troops began advancing from occupied Crimea into the Kherson region. Oleshky was on one of the routes of military equipment movement towards the Antonovsky Bridge — a strategic crossing over the Dnipro connecting the left bank with Kherson.
Russian units appeared in the city area on the first day of the invasion. There were battles for the bridge and adjacent territories. Later, Russian military began entering residential areas directly.
But the Ukrainian local government continued to operate. The city head, Yevhen Rishchuk, and municipal service employees tried to maintain city management, ensure utilities, and uphold order.
On March 8, 2022, hundreds of residents protested against the Russian occupation. People marched through the streets with Ukrainian flags, demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops. At that time, it was still possible to publicly express dissent, although the situation quickly became more dangerous.
On April 14, Russian military removed the Ukrainian flag from the city administration building and hoisted the Russian tricolor.
On that day, Rishchuk reported that Russian units were fully entering the city and independently starting to patrol the streets. Local patrols refused to work with them.
Gradually, Russian occupation structures appeared, detentions, checks, and pressure on residents began. Thus, the military occupation of the territory began on February 24, and April became the time of the final expulsion of Ukrainian municipal governance from the city.
November 2022: Kherson was liberated, but Oleshky remained opposite
In September, Russia held a so-called referendum in the occupied territory of the Kherson region, after which it announced the annexation of the region. Ukraine and the overwhelming majority of the international community did not recognize the legality of the border changes.
On November 11, 2022, Ukrainian troops liberated Kherson. The Russian army retreated from the right-bank part of the region but held Oleshky and neighboring settlements on the eastern bank.
The Dnipro became the front line. The Antonovsky Bridge was destroyed, and regular communication between the cities ceased.
For the remaining residents, this became a separate tragedy. Kherson was very close, but it was no longer possible to reach it by the usual road. Many hoped that Ukrainian troops would soon liberate the left bank as well. Some families decided not to leave for this reason.
In March 2023, the Russian occupation administration even announced the return of the Soviet name Tsyurupinsk to the city. For Ukraine, its official name remained and remains Oleshky.
June 6, 2023: The city was flooded
After the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, a massive amount of water rushed down the Dnipro. Oleshky was among the most affected settlements.
According to then Ukrainian local authorities’ estimates, water flooded about 90% of the city’s territory. In many areas, it reached the roofs of houses. People were saved on attics, upper floors, and trees.
The Kakhovka HPP had been under Russian military control since February 2022. Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing it up, while Moscow denies responsibility. Investigations into the circumstances of the dam’s destruction pointed to a high likelihood of an explosion inside the structure.
In December 2023, the Associated Press published an investigation into the consequences of the flooding and the occupation administration’s attempts to conceal the number of deaths.
Medical workers interviewed by journalists estimated the number of victims directly in Oleshky at 200–300 people. Russian occupation authorities reported significantly lower figures for the entire flooded territory under their control.
This is an assessment by witnesses and medics, not a final named statistic. Establishing the full number of deaths until independent access to the territory is restored is impossible.
The flood destroyed the property of thousands of families, ruined roads and utility infrastructure. Many lost documents, which became an additional obstacle when trying to escape the occupation three years later.
2024–2025: The city gradually loses normal living conditions
After the flood, full recovery did not occur. Oleshky remained in close proximity to the front, fighting continued in the area, and mining and drone use increasingly restricted civilian movement.
Electricity and gas disappeared from the daily lives of most residents. Water was drawn from wells, generators and solar panels were used. In winter, houses had to be heated with firewood.
In July 2026, Human Rights Watch published the results of interviews with six residents who managed to leave Oleshky between October 2025 and May 2026. Their stories describe the gradual collapse of the utility system, food shortages, lack of normal medical care, and the danger of moving through the streets.
Russian occupation did not mean the end of hostilities: Russian unit positions and Ukrainian forces on the opposite bank remained in close proximity. Civilians found themselves in the middle of this war.
2026: Two million problems and not a single normal food supply
The situation began to deteriorate sharply in January 2026, when the last regular grocery store stopped operating regularly due to a lack of goods.
On March 2, NANews wrote about the growing food isolation of Oleshky. At that time, individual entrepreneurs still managed to occasionally bring in products, although each trip was accompanied by risk.
On May 26, two commercial vehicles with food arrived in the city. According to the Ukrainian administration, this was the last successful delivery.
Already on June 25, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission confirmed that after this date, no food was delivered to Oleshky. By September, the situation had not fundamentally changed.
In the summer, gardens saved the residents. People ate grown vegetables, fruits, homemade preserves, exchanged small stocks. Some caught pigeons and pheasants.
By autumn, these opportunities were also exhausted.
In testimonies published on September 25, residents say they are making soup from lamb’s quarters, purslane, and amaranth — wild plants previously considered weeds.
A small spontaneous market emerged near the hospital. According to locals, a dozen eggs could cost about 800 hryvnias. Other products were sold at equally inaccessible prices for the remaining residents.
The head of the Oleshky city military administration, Tatyana Gasanenko, reported that she received confirmation of individual cases where families began eating dogs. This is an official’s testimony from a person in the city; conducting an independent verification of these specific cases is currently impossible.
Twenty kilometers for food. Sometimes people don’t return
One of the few places where food can still be purchased is Radensk, located approximately twenty kilometers from Oleshky.
It takes about five hours to walk there. The return journey, with food, becomes significantly harder.
One local resident said she went to Radensk by bicycle and returned on foot. She carried almost 85 kilograms of purchases — grains, vegetables, pasta, and other necessary items. The food was intended for three families.
But not everyone manages to return home.
Relatives of residents told journalists about two men who were carrying food from Radensk and died after a drone attack. The food remained lying near their bodies. It has not yet been possible to independently establish the circumstances of this particular strike.
The roads are littered with mines. Drones, including FPV — small operator-controlled devices transmitting real-time camera images — constantly operate above them.
Moreover, it is dangerous not only to move along the roads. People are also afraid to go into the forest for mushrooms or to the river for fish: mined areas may be located even near residential neighborhoods.
Vehicles with humanitarian aid also cannot reach
On June 2, 2026, a civilian convoy with food and humanitarian aid hit a mine on the approach to Oleshky.
According to UN-established data, one person died, and three were injured. After this, attempts to organize full-fledged supply became increasingly dangerous.
On September 1, another serious incident occurred. A convoy of four vehicles heading to the city with food was attacked.
The Ukrainian and Russian sides blamed each other. Volunteers talk about damaged vehicles and drivers who had to return on foot. However, it is not possible to reliably establish who exactly attacked the specific convoy based on available open testimonies.
Russia accuses Ukrainian military of blocking supplies. Ukrainian representatives claim that Russian units are hindering the passage of humanitarian transport, laying mines, and using the civilian population to cover military positions.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch separately recorded credible testimonies of possible use of drones and mines by Ukrainian units on roads around Oleshky. However, researchers have not been able to establish responsibility for specific attacks.
The presence of hostilities on both sides does not negate Russia’s obligations as the state controlling the occupied territory to provide the population with food and medical assistance.
The hospital that asks for food from patients and their relatives
The Oleshky hospital remains practically the last place in the city where at least limited medical assistance can be obtained.
However, there is a shortage of medicines and antibiotics, and the generator is started only occasionally due to a lack of fuel. Volunteers report that the hospital asks residents to bring grains and other products to provide hot meals for bedridden patients.
Ambulances have almost stopped responding to calls. Sometimes the wounded have to be transported on ordinary garden carts.
The UN recorded a situation in June with four patients needing transfer from Oleshky to the Skadovsk hospital. Organizing transportation was not possible. One person died without receiving the necessary help.
There are also testimonies about the bodies of the deceased that remain unburied for a long time.
Gasanenko told ABC News that more than a hundred bodies are in the basement of one of the hospital buildings after the morgue was destroyed. Some residents are forced to bury their loved ones directly in the yards of their homes.
The named number of bodies has not yet been confirmed by independent verification. But numerous testimonies from residents, the administration, and volunteers allow us to speak of a severe violation of the usual system of medical assistance and burial of the deceased.
What the UN established: 29 dead and 54 injured civilians
On June 25, 2026, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission published a separate report on the situation in the occupied left-bank Kherson region.
Mission staff interviewed more than twenty residents of frontline settlements, including Oleshky and Hola Prystan.
As of the publication date, the UN received reports of at least 29 dead and 54 injured civilians in these two cities for 2026. Many episodes were independently confirmed.
Among them was a drone attack on March 5 on people waiting for food distribution. Two civilians died, and several others were injured.
In another case, a drone injured a local medical worker traveling on a scooter. A subsequent strike killed him and a man who came to help.
The UN notes that most recorded civilian losses are associated with short-range drones, but responsibility for each individual episode could not be established.
It is important not to mix different indicators: 29 dead is the recorded minimum by the end of June for two settlements, not the total number of deaths in Oleshky over four and a half years of occupation.
Why people can’t just evacuate
The situation is paradoxical: Ukrainian Kherson is a few kilometers away, but there is no direct safe communication with it.
The Dnipro remains the front line. Crossing without an agreed cessation of hostilities is practically impossible. Clashes continue in the area of river islands.
Therefore, residents who decide to evacuate on their own first go to Radensk or other settlements in the occupied territory. Then they try to find transport towards the Black Sea coast, reach Russia or Belarus, and from there get to Ukraine-controlled territory.
Volunteer Ksenia Arkhipova told ABC News that such a departure sometimes costs up to $500 per person.
In addition to money, documents are needed. Many were burned or destroyed during the 2023 flood. At Russian checkpoints, people undergo checks and interrogations, and men fear detention and forced conscription into the Russian army.
There are also those who are physically unable to overcome such a route. The UN cited the story of a family where a man stayed in Oleshky because his 84-year-old father could not walk ten kilometers to the supposed gathering place.
Others do not want to leave their homes, fear the lack of housing after evacuation, or simply do not have the means for the journey.
So the claim that residents could freely leave but chose to stay does not correspond to the conditions described by international observers.
358 verified people are waiting for help. When will the humanitarian corridor open?
According to Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, his office received 176 appeals regarding the humanitarian situation in the occupied left-bank Kherson region and verified data on 358 people in urgent need of evacuation assistance.
These 358 are specific identified people, not the total number of all those wishing to leave Oleshky.
In May, during a temporary decrease in hostilities from the 9th to the 11th, volunteers managed to organize the departure of 32 people. By the end of June, approximately 180 civilians had left dangerous settlements thanks to separate informal evacuation efforts.
Ksenia Arkhipova told ABC News that in September she helped 47 people escape. About 300 more were on waiting lists. Gasanenko separately mentioned eleven residents who independently passed through dangerous areas.
These data relate to different periods, organizations, and evacuation methods, so they cannot be added as independent groups without additional verification.
According to Lubinets, the Ukrainian side agreed on civilian lists and readiness to ensure a ceasefire — a temporary cessation of hostilities for a humanitarian operation.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an independent humanitarian organization, confirmed that it is in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian sides and is ready to facilitate safe departure.
However, as of September 22, Moscow has not confirmed readiness to conduct an agreed evacuation.
September 2026: Appeals reached the Pope and the Council of Europe
The situation in Oleshky gradually became the subject of international appeals.
On September 19, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations appealed to Pope Leo XIV, the World Council of Churches, and other international religious organizations to assist in saving the population.
The All-Ukrainian Council includes representatives of various religious communities of Ukraine, including Christian denominations, Muslim and Jewish organizations.
On September 20, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha officially stated that Russia is hindering the supply of food and medicine, the work of humanitarian organizations, and the evacuation of civilians.
On September 25, the World Council of Churches publicly supported the appeal of Ukrainian religious leaders.
On the same day, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty stated the need for an immediate local ceasefire, humanitarian access, and safe evacuation.
The Council of Europe is a separate international organization dealing with the protection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law; it should not be confused with the European Union.
O’Flaherty emphasized that international humanitarian law obliges Russia, as the occupying power, to provide the civilian population with food and medical assistance.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency already on September 20, detailed the situation with 358 residents awaiting evacuation and the appeal of religious organizations. New evidence shows that over the past week, living conditions in the city have continued to deteriorate.
Israeli connection: Rabbi Asman helped save residents of Kherson region back in 2023.
For the Jewish and Israeli audience, this story is directly connected to the events following the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP.
On June 8, 2023, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Asman arrived in Kherson on a humanitarian mission and participated in the evacuation of people from flooded areas.
During one of the rescue trips, the group, which included the rabbi, came under fire. Asman published a video from the scene. People managed to escape.
NANews reported on this trip of Moshe Asman back on June 8, 2023.
Three years later, Jewish religious representatives, along with other communities in Ukraine, are again participating in international appeals regarding the humanitarian situation in the Kherson region.
There is also a diplomatic connection.
On September 23, 2026, Israel joined a joint statement by 51 UN member states calling on Russia to agree to a complete, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. It was about a general initiative in support of ending the war, not a separate decision on Oleshky.
NANews wrote more about this in the article “More than 51 countries in the UN, including Israel, called on Russia to agree to a ceasefire”.
Winter is coming. What might happen to the remaining residents?
There is less and less time before the cold sets in. In the summer, people could grow vegetables, collect fruits, and exchange products with neighbors. In winter, these opportunities will almost disappear.
Tatyana Gasanenko warns that after the ground freezes and snow appears, detecting mines will become even more difficult. The twenty-kilometer road to Radensk may become inaccessible even to those who can walk it today.
At the same time, the need for heating, fuel, medicines, and electricity will increase. And these resources are already lacking in the city.
There are several possible directions for solving the problem: coordinated mass evacuation, safe humanitarian supplies, and the restoration of medical assistance for people who cannot or do not want to leave their homes. All this requires real security agreements, not just public appeals.
Organizations involved in evacuation continue to insist on the need for demining routes and a temporary ceasefire. So far, there are no such guarantees.
In four and a half years, Oleshky has experienced the Russian invasion, the establishment of an occupation administration, separation from Kherson by the front line, catastrophic flooding after the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP, and the gradual collapse of infrastructure.
Now residents are forced to decide whether to go in search of food on a mined road or try to survive a few more days on the remaining supplies.
Liberated Kherson is nine kilometers away. But for the people remaining in Oleshky, this path is still closed.
