Roughly 2,000 civilians remain trapped in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, where food supplies have completely halted.
Once home to 24,000 people across the Dnipro River from Kherson, Oleshky has deteriorated into a desolate frontline zone under strict Russian occupation since February 2022. Infrastructure suffered catastrophic damage when the Nova Kakhovka Dam collapsed in June 2023, leaving the municipality without electricity, gas, or running water. Regular food deliveries stopped entirely after May, leaving the remaining population — including approximately 50 children — completely cut off from formal commercial networks as local shops remain shuttered.
Severe Food Shortages and Daily Survival Tactics
With commercial supply lines severed by heavily mined roads and overhead drone patrols, residents have been forced to scavenge for basic nutrition. Surviving families report eating only once a day, relying on makeshift soups created from foraged weeds such as purslane, lamb’s quarters, and amaranth. Barter systems have emerged on local messaging apps, though cash holds little value when no one has goods to sell.
Attempts by Ukrainian authorities to alleviate the crisis have faced immense hurdles. Kherson military authorities conducted a large-scale airdrop using heavy drones to distribute roughly four tonnes of emergency food, water, and medical supplies across 100 locations.
Casualties, Blockades, and Burials Amid Constant Shelling
Physical danger persists across the city from active shelling, landmines, and drone attacks. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine recorded at least 29 civilian deaths and 54 injuries across Oleshky and neighboring Hola Prystan. Local volunteer Ksenia Arkhipova, who tracks fatalities through a personal database compiled since her 2022 evacuation, estimates the local death toll has reached approximately 1,200 individuals as the list grows daily from drone strikes and landmine detonations.
The humanitarian emergency extends to the basic dignity of handling the dead. Families often cannot even bury their loved ones.
Before the war, a woman in the besieged city who was waiting to be evacuated by the occupying forces had weighed 110kg (17st); now she weighed just 67kg, she wrote. At first I was glad [to lose some weight], but now I realise I’ll die without proper protein-rich food. It’s very hard. The house where we stayed last winter was also destroyed and burned down. Just like our own home … We’re still alive,
read her message.
According to Tetiana Hasanenko, head of Oleshky’s evacuated Ukrainian administration, speaking to The Kyiv Independent in April 2026, It’s a humanitarian catastrophe, people are driven to despair.
One resident who asked to be identified as Halia said food was last brought into the city in May and shops have been closed since spring. She eats once a day, baking plain bread and adding a tomato or honey. When the garden vegetables ran out, people began boiling lamb’s quarters and purslane. Some are reportedly already eating dogs.
On September 20, a husband and wife who were bringing home a bag of food from the closest neighbouring town of Radensk, 23km (14 miles) away, were unable to get home before a curfew imposed by Russian occupation authorities and were subsequently killed by a drone.
Diplomatic Appeals at the United Nations
International pressure mounted when Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha addressed the situation, stating in the UN that food was last delivered to Oleshky before the start of summer. Sybiha condemned the complete blockade imposed by occupying forces, warning that the population faces imminent starvation without urgent humanitarian corridors.