'Hell on earth': residents in Russian-occupied Oleshky reduced to eating weeds as food runs out
Food supplies have completely run out for roughly 2,000 remaining residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky, with survivors describing the city as 'hell on earth'. Ukraine is demanding an immediate evacuation while Russia denies responsibility.
Oleshky, once home to 24,000 people across the Dnipro River from Kherson, now has only about 2,000 residents left, and their food has completely run out. Messages from those trapped inside describe hunger and desperation — one woman said she has lost more than 40 kilograms since the war began and fears dying from lack of protein-rich food.
Supplies still reached the city until May, but since then occupying Russian forces have expanded minefields and drone surveillance, halting deliveries entirely. The situation is worsened by the fact that Ukraine's successful summer drone campaign against Russian supply lines has created shortages for frontline Russian troops, who in turn take what little food civilians have managed to save.
One meal a day
Residents say they are down to eating one meal daily — soup without potatoes, made from courgettes grown in old flower boxes and foraged purslane, an edible weed. On 1 September, a food convoy heading to the city was attacked, with Moscow and Kyiv blaming each other. Ukrainian officials say drone food drops have done little good, as supplies are typically seized by Russian soldiers.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, raised the situation at the UN General Assembly, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe and calling for immediate evacuation, accusing Russia of deliberately starving residents. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the critical situation but blamed Ukrainian forces for blocking humanitarian aid.
Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky military administration operating from the Ukrainian-held side of the river, said conditions worsened sharply late last year as mines and drone strikes made deliveries increasingly deadly. She also described an incident in which a 74-year-old man was killed by soldiers while searching a flooded cellar for stored food. Ukrainian officials believe occupying forces are deliberately delaying evacuation, using civilians as human shields to deter a potential Ukrainian counterattack from Kherson.
