A grim message from Russian-occupied Oleshky has highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in the city, where around 2,000 civilians, including about 50 children, are reportedly struggling to survive after food supplies ran out.
“We’re in Oleshky [and] we can’t get out. We’re going hungry … Right now, I’ve got absolutely nothing to eat,” a woman in the city said in a message while waiting to be evacuated by Russian forces.
The woman said she had lost more than 40kg since the start of the war, falling from 110kg to 67kg. “At first I was glad [to lose some weight], but now I realise I’ll die without proper protein-rich food,” she said, adding that the house where she spent last winter had been destroyed and burned down.
Oleshky, located across the Dnipro River from Kherson, has been described as “a hell on earth” by Ukrainians familiar with conditions there.
This weekend, Ukrainian military authorities in Kherson carried out a large-scale drone airdrop of emergency food, water and medical supplies into Oleshky and surrounding areas after Russia reportedly again rejected a ceasefire to facilitate the evacuation of civilians.
The Kherson military governor’s office said around four tonnes of food had been dropped at 100 locations, although it remained unclear how much of the aid was intercepted by Russian forces.
Among the international organisations calling for humanitarian intervention is the Council of Europe. Its Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, said he was “alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Oleshky”.
“Civilians, including children, are trapped without sufficient food, medicines, medical care, running water or electricity,” O’Flaherty said, warning that reports indicated they faced a high risk of death.
O’Flaherty said Russia, as the occupying power, has an obligation under international humanitarian law to provide food, medicines and other essential supplies. He called for an immediate local ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access and the safe evacuation of civilians.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has also raised the crisis at the UN General Assembly in New York. A “Save Oleshky” banner was displayed at a Ukraine-Hungary Nations League football match on Friday.
In a statement published on Monday, Sybiha warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” and called for the immediate evacuation of civilians, accusing Russia of being “the only obstacle”.
“Russia is deliberately making life there impossible. They are starving them to death,” Sybiha said in an address during the UN General Assembly.
Sybiha later said residents of Oleshky “cannot survive on statements of concern”, calling for humanitarian access and safe evacuation to become a reality and urging the UN and Red Cross to intervene.
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