Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA
Family reunion in Kiev, after arrival by train from Kherson
The Ukrainian city is occupied by Russian troops. Many Ukrainian civilians are left there, isolated and facing starvation, while the Kiev government tries to rescue them.
The situation in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky is critical. With the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine in 2023, the city was first flooded and then bombed. Today, it is practically isolated.
Even so, according to the Ukrainian military administration, around two thousand people continue to live in the city, mostly retirees and people with reduced mobility, as well as 47 children.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Oleshky, considered the , had 24,000 inhabitants and was located in a popular tourist area. Of the 13 towns in the municipality, five were completely destroyed by the Russian occupation, and the rest still have inhabitants.
Oleshky became a trap
Today, it is almost impossible to get out of Oleshky. The city and all access roads were mined by the Russian army. The Antonivka bridge, over the Dnipro River, which connected Oleshky to the regional capital, Kherson, under Ukrainian control, no longer exists, as it was destroyed by the Russians in November 2022, after withdrawing from the right bank to the left bank of the river.
“Oleshky, people die because of mines, direct impacts on houses or shrapnel from grenades”, tells DW Ksenia Arkhipova, who lived in the city and is currently helping to evacuate residents.
“The hospital runs on generators, but there is practically no fuel. Complex operations, such as amputations after mine explosions, are impossible,” he says.
The situation is also confirmed by Natalia, who lived for a year and a half under Russian occupation and left Oleshky after the destruction of the dam.
“People can barely survive, they have no electricity or water. Medicines are barely available; food is scarce and, when it arrives, everyone faces long queues to buy something, despite having little money. There are mines on the sides of the roads, which explode when someone passes by on a bicycle or on foot — many people die like this”, he says.
Natalia keeps in touch with family and acquaintances in the city, as Oleshky is still within the range of the Ukrainian mobile network due to its proximity to Kherson. To charge cell phones, people use solar panels left in partially destroyed houses. However, according to Natalia, this communication is extremely dangerous. Ukrainian SIM cards are banned in occupied areas, as is any contact with the Ukrainian side.
Kiev wants humanitarian corridor
Last winter, Oleshky became even more isolated. The roads were so mined that many traders stopped transporting food to the city, out of fear for their lives. According to Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the military administration of the Kherson region, this led, in February, to a almost total collapse of supply.
“From March onwards, the situation in Oleshky became practically one of famine, as, from mid-January until February, almost no food arrived. It was only on May 4th that a truck with supplies arrived, and there were no more deliveries. Without electricity, people cook on open fires, and the refrigerators don’t work”, he reports.
According to Hasanenko, the Ukrainian government wants to rescue the people in Oleshky. Efforts in this regard are led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the human rights commissioner and also international humanitarian organizations. The creation of humanitarian corridors is being discussed, but these do not depend solely on Ukraine.
Hasanenko accuses Russia of using the civilian population as a human shield and claims that a humanitarian corridor would only be possible under international supervision, such as that of the UN or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Waiting for the ceasefire
Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets speaks at a humanitarian catastrophe. “There is a lack of food, medicine and drinking water”, he reveals.
At the beginning of March, he received requests for help from residents and turned to the International Committee of the Red Cross, in addition to talking to the then Russian commissioner for human rights, Tatiana Moskalkova.
According to Lubinets, at the end of April, the ICRC declared itself ready to provide buses to evacuate residents. Ukraine then coordinated the technical aspects of an evacuation of Oleshky and neighboring villages on the right bank of the Dnipro River, Lubinets told Ukrainian media.
The plan is to take around six thousand civilians, including 200 children, to safety. But Kiev continues to hope that Moscow will set a date for a ceasefire so that the withdrawal can begin.
The Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights is trying to draw the international community’s attention to the situation in Oleshky. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it intends to present to the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) the serious humanitarian situation in Oleshky.
“We urgently appeal to the international community to take concrete measures to save our citizens in the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Exit search
While authorities negotiate, some residents try to escape by their own means. Activist Ksenia Arkhipova helps with these efforts.
“We advance every 100 meters, checking for mines, and only then do we allow a vehicle to follow. We evacuate between seven and 12 people per week.”
This operation is financed by the NGO Save Ukraine. According to the activist, people are taken to Skadovsk, also in occupied Ukraine, and then, through Russia, to the border between Ukraine and Belarus — the safest way to reach territory controlled by Kiev. “But only those who have documents can leave”, he warns.
Those who lost them have to wait for new documents, issued by the occupying force. “People without documents, who have lost everything, don’t pass through the checkpoints. I advise them to obtain Russian passports just to be able to escape, but the Russians require three neighbors to confirm their identity. Where can they get that?”, he asks.
These people end up being stranded in Skadovsk. Families with children also face difficulties, as it is necessary to obtain a Russian passport for minors. They too have to spend months in Skadovsk until they get their documents.
Leaving the occupied areas is practically impossible for anyone with only a Ukrainian passport.
“Anyone who tries will face terrible controls, lasting six to seven hours,” says Arkhipova. According to the activist, the occupation authorities systematically increased obstacles, causing many holders of Ukrainian documents to be stranded in the region.
