City under siege and "hell" for civilians: Kherson Regional Military Administration describes critical situation in occupied Oleshky
The bodies of the deceased have remained unburied for weeks, and the logistics infrastructure has been completely destroyed—the occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region is under a complete humanitarian blockade.
This was reported in a statement to Censor.NET by the press service of the Department of Internal and Information Policy of the Kherson Regional Military Administration.
Details
According to the city administration, the situation in the city has deteriorated sharply in recent months. The Russian military has effectively turned the residents’ lives into "hell."
In Oleshky, there is no access to food, medicine, fuel, or electricity. Food is not being delivered to the city. Moreover, the occupiers are shooting at any vehicles attempting to deliver aid.
"People were faced with a choice: either wait to starve to death, or walk dozens of kilometers along roads littered with landmines under fire to find at least a piece of bread," the Kherson Regional Military Administration stated.
Civilians are dying every day in the city due to malnutrition, heart attacks, and constant Russian shelling. However, because of the hostilities and the occupation regime, it is impossible to bury the dead properly. Bodies remain unburied for weeks, and sometimes even months. There are known cases where people are buried right in the yards of private homes.
According to the Kherson Regional Military Administration, as a result of Russian shelling—which the occupiers are attempting to pass off as actions by the Ukrainian Defense Forces—nearly all buildings in the city have been damaged, along with social and critical infrastructure.
Currently, approximately 2,000 residents remain in Oleshky, including about 50 children. For comparison: before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the city’s population was about 24,000 people.
Official evacuation routes are currently blocked. The Russian side is not only failing to evacuate civilians but is also actively obstructing any attempts by people to leave the city on their own.
"For our part, we do not have physical access to this area, so we are unable to organize the evacuation of the population," the regional administration stated.
Earlier, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets appealed to the international community regarding the critical situation in the occupied territories of the Kherson region; however, as of now, the humanitarian corridors to Oleshky remain closed due to the aggressor country’s stance.
