City on the brink of starvation: how the occupied Ukrainian Oleshky is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe

While global media discuss crises in the Middle East and new geopolitical risks, a nearly unnoticed tragedy is unfolding on the left bank of the Kherson region. The Russian-occupied Oleshky has effectively found itself in isolation — without stable supplies of food, medicine, and basic living conditions.

According to local authorities and residents, the city is gradually shifting into survival mode.

The blockade of the city during the war in Ukraine

How many people remain in Oleshky

Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since the first months of the full-scale invasion. Before the war, about 40,000 people lived here, but today, according to the military administration’s estimates, no more than six thousand civilians remain in the city.

The infrastructure is partially destroyed, many families have left, but thousands of people — mostly the elderly — continue to live under constant threat.

Since mid-January 2026, the situation has sharply deteriorated. According to the head of the city military administration, Tatyana Gasanenko, in a month and a half, food was delivered to the city only once.

All other attempts ended tragically — people died trying to bring ordinary bread to Oleshky.

It is precisely such stories that today form a real understanding of the war, which is regularly covered by NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, documenting the humanitarian consequences of the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories.

The road under drones: the journey for food has become deadly

Closed checkpoints and the ‘road of death’

According to residents’ reports on social media, there is virtually no systematic delivery of food to the city. The Russian occupation administration does not provide the population with food.

The only chance to get food is to wait for the rare vehicles that manage to break through the checkpoints. People gather daily near the hospital at the ‘Start’ stadium in the hope that someone will bring food.

In recent weeks, only a few vehicles have managed to deliver milk and vegetables. The products were sold out in minutes — with queues, conflicts, and desperate struggles for basic necessities.

The road to Oleshky has turned into a dangerous route. Cars move under the watch of drones, drivers are forced to get out of their vehicles and raise their hands to prove they are civilians.

At the same time, returning home is often impossible: at the checkpoints, Russian military do not allow people back into the city even with medicines and food for relatives.

According to eyewitnesses, the military directly tell people to turn back, effectively leaving the residents of Oleshky without a chance for supplies.

Hunger, lack of medicine, and a shattered life

A city without water, electricity, and medicine

Today in Oleshky, food is practically absent. Stores are closing one after another, and residents survive on old stocks, exchanging food with neighbors, and home canning.

Simultaneously, the city faces critical problems:

• lack of drinking water;

• absence of stable electricity supply;

• interruptions with gas and heating;

• almost complete lack of medicines.

There is effectively one ambulance, which goes to Skadovsk once every few days. Meanwhile, food is delivered only for the needs of the hospital.

The medical system operates at the limit of its capabilities: damaged infrastructure, lack of personnel, and minimal supplies of medicines make treatment a serious problem.

A separate tragedy is the situation with the burial of the deceased. Due to constant danger, bodies can remain in the morgue for weeks or even months, as conducting funerals is associated with the risk of shelling.

According to local authorities, Russian military as the occupying side are obliged to provide for the basic needs of the civilian population according to international humanitarian law. However, this is not happening in practice.

Today, Oleshky increasingly resembles an isolated territory where people risk their lives daily for food and medicine — a city that has fallen out of the global agenda but continues to live between fear, hunger, and the hope of liberation.