Kamal Ghorui
Oleshki, a city on the Russian-occupied left bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s Kherson region, is under a new form of siege: a combined mine and drone blockade. Drones control movement from above and drop mines to block roads. Civilians are cut off from food and medicine and cannot escape.
“The situation is critical,” said Ksenia Arkhipova, a former resident who fled in July 2022 and now resides in Ukraine-controlled territory and works to evacuate those still trapped in Oleshki. “It is a siege from the sky.”
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, around 25,000 people lived in Oleshki. The city has since been partly destroyed by the Nova Kakhovka dam explosion orchestrated by the Russian military in June 2023 and by combat activities. Ukrainian officials estimate that between 2,000 and 3,000 civilians remain, many of them elderly or vulnerable.
Access to the city is restricted. Roads leading in and out are mined and, in some areas, blocked with barbed wire. Streets and fields are seeded with explosives. Drones monitor movement and strike targets. Artillery fire continues. There is no electricity. Gas supplies have been shut off since spring 2025. Running water is unavailable in most buildings. Food is scarce, and communication is tightly controlled, and sharing information risks arrest or worse.
“There is no entrance to Oleshki,” Arkhipova says. “Everything is mined.”
Residents describe a system designed to prevent movement, referring to the supply routes as the “Road of Death.” Vehicles risk mines, drone strikes, and shelling. Witnesses report burned vehicles, looted supplies, and killings along these routes. In some cases, Russian forces take a significant share of goods delivered by civilians. Mines have destroyed several vehicles carrying food. In one incident, a driver was found dead beside scattered groceries.
“The city is facing a catastrophic shortage of drinking water, with no stable electricity or gas supply, and limited access to medical care,” stated the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitro Lubinets. “People are forced to save every sip of water and every crumb of food. Attempts to deliver supplies result in the deaths of drivers or the disruption of transport due to deadly danger on the roads. This is not just a humanitarian crisis. This is deliberate terrorism by the Russian Federation against the civilian population.”
Other settlements on the left bank of the Dnipro, such as Hola Prystan, Stara, and Nova Zburyivka, experience similar drone and mine siege and infrastructure collapse.
Hunger and healthcare crisis
Food shortages intensified in January 2026, when deliveries of food and medicine stopped for about a month. By April, limited supplies reach Oleshki: twice a week, two cars with trailers arrive from the Hola Prystan area, carrying small quantities of basic goods.
“Two cars are not enough for 2,000 people,” Arkhipova said.
Residents rely on preserved food, bartering, and improvised methods. Some hunt pigeons. Others collect rainwater, dew or melted snow. Prices have risen sharply, and many goods are unaffordable. There are no functioning banks or ATMs. Many survive on money sent by relatives.
The healthcare system has largely collapsed. The hospital operates on generators, but fuel shortages limit its capacity. It does not perform complex surgeries. Supplies are minimal. Patients are often sent home untreated. Injuries from mines, drones, and shelling are frequent. An 11-year-old boy, Vanya, stepped on an anti-personnel mine and was transported to the regional center Skadovsk with severe injuries, where he underwent amputation of both legs, according to Arkhipova, who keeps a list of deaths and injuries caused by the Russian occupation. In another incident, when a drone detonated after becoming entangled in trees, shrapnel struck a female paramedic in the head, and she died at the scene, as the ambulance never arrived. A man suffering from bilateral pneumonia sought medical help but was discharged due to a lack of antibiotics. He died at home the same night.
Even available medicines are often ineffective, residents say. Insulin supplied under Russian systems is described as lower quality than what patients previously received.
Ambulances attempt to travel from Oleshki to Skadovsk several times a week to collect medicine and fuel. The journey is extremely risky. In March 2026, a mine destroyed one ambulance.
“If the ambulance cannot leave, the hospital stops working,” Arkhipova said. “There is no gasoline.”
Drone attacks and “human safari”
Residents report frequent attacks of FPV drones dropping explosives. Civilians gathering for food or moving through open areas are targeted. On March 5, 2026, locals lined up near a local store waiting for a promised humanitarian aid distribution. At around 6:30 a.m., drones struck the area. At least one person was killed, and several were injured.
“They gather people, promise aid, and then drones strike,” Arkhipova said.
Locals say they can distinguish the origin of the drones by sound and response time. They report hearing the drone overhead seconds before impact, indicating a nearby launch rather than from Ukrainian-controlled territory across the river.
Russian drone operators often train on civilians and civilian cars, dropping empty explosives containers, picking them up, and continuing the exercise.
Rising deaths and a burial crisis
Deaths are increasing. Causes include starvation, hypothermia, untreated illness, and injuries from mines and shrapnel. The winter has been particularly severe. Some residents have frozen to death in their homes without heating.
Burial has become a major challenge. Coffins are no longer available, and bodies are placed in bags and buried in cemeteries or private gardens. Some remain in homes or on the streets for extended periods. Residents report stray dogs feeding on remains. After the flooding caused by the Nova Kakhovka dam explosion, many residents fled, leaving pets behind, and thousands of dogs roam the city, according to Arkhipova and many others.
A structure in the city is used to store bodies, but it is not a functioning morgue. There is no refrigeration and no fuel for generators. In some cases, bodies are transported to Henichesk, but delays are prolonged. One resident said her son, killed before the New Year, remained there months later.
Forced control and mobilisation
Russian authorities maintain strict control over the population. Residents report interrogations, arrests, and disappearances. Men of draft age face pressure to join the Russian forces. At checkpoints, men under 55 can be detained and sent for medical examinations. Some are later deployed to the front, often assigned to dig trenches rather than combat roles.
Evacuation under risk
Efforts to evacuate civilians have increased since March 2026. Arkhipova, who runs a Telegram channel with more than 2,000 subscribers, received frequent requests for help.
“We want to get out,” residents wrote. “We have nothing to eat.”
Evacuation is dangerous. Vehicles travel in small groups, often two at a time. Drivers or passengers attempt to identify mines on the road and detonate them manually, despite having no training. Once out of Oleshki, evacuees travel through occupied territory towards Russia and Belarus to a crossing point at Mokrany–Domanovo, where Ukrainian volunteers meet them.
Elderly people, children, those with limited mobility, and individuals without documents often remain trapped. Many lost their Ukrainian documents during the 2023 flood. Obtaining Russian documents is difficult or impossible under current conditions. Children face additional barriers. They are typically allowed to leave for Ukrainian-controlled areas only with Russian passports, which many do not have. Processing documents requires travel to regional centers such as Skadovsk, which is not feasible under siege conditions. Waiting times can extend to three months.
Financial constraints also limit evacuation. More than 200 people have applied to leave, but many cannot afford the journey. There are no jobs in Oleshki, and residents rely on external support.
“Evacuation can be done in groups of 20 to 30 people a week,” Arkhipova says. “But what happens next? Not everyone has relatives who can support them.”
Calls for an international response
Arkhipova and other volunteers say the situation requires urgent international attention. The office of the Ombudsman asked The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for help at the beginning of March 2026. They are calling for involvement from humanitarian organisations to facilitate evacuations and deliver humanitarian aid.
“The world needs to know what is happening here,” says Arkhipova.
END OF ARTICLE
