Humanitarian crisis in occupied Oleszki: Residents without food and medical care

Oleszki is located on the left bank of the Dnieper, about 9 kilometers from Kherson. The city has been under Russian occupation since February 2022. As described by "Ukraińska Pravda", its inhabitants have been living without constant supplies of electricity, gas, drinking water and basic medical supplies for months.

The last deliveries of products were supposed to reach Oleszki on May 26. Later attempts to enter the city ended in shelling or the necessity to turn back. According to reports quoted by the Ukrainian portal, some residents cook meals from wild plants and what they grow in their gardens.

The road to nearby Radensko, where you can still buy food, is approximately 20 kilometers long. Crossing it takes many hours and involves the risk of stepping on mines or being attacked by drones.

The hospital is operating at the limit of capacity

The only facility that is still partially functioning is the local hospital. However, according to volunteers, there is a lack of medicines, antibiotics, equipment and fuel for generators. Medical assistance is to be limited to the most basic activities.

The hospital was also a place where people extremely exhausted by hunger went. Now food is running out there too. Ambulances do not run because some streets are mined. Injured or sick residents are to be transported using makeshift means.

According to "Ukrainska Pravda" sources, the mortuary infrastructure was also destroyed. The bodies of the deceased are stored in the basement of one of the hospital buildings.

Winter may deepen the residents' tragedy

The Ukrainian authorities declare that they are trying to evacuate civilians. Human rights spokesman of the Ukrainian Parliament, Dmytro Lubinec, said that a list of people requiring departure had been agreed, and Ukrainian forces were to provide conditions for a ceasefire. However, as of September 22, Russia had not confirmed its consent to carry out the operation.

The International Committee of the Red Cross was to confirm that it is in contact with both the Ukrainian and Russian authorities and declares its readiness to support the evacuation if it is safe for the population.

The authorities in Kiev accuse Russia of blocking the departure of residents and using them as a human shield. Russia controls Oleszki, therefore - in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention - it is responsible for providing the population in the occupied territory with food, medical care and basic sanitary conditions.

The situation is further complicated by the upcoming winter. There is no heating or stable access to energy in the city. Volunteers quoted by Ukrainian media report that last winter elderly people froze to death in their apartments.

For the inhabitants of Oleski, the choice is dramatic: stay in the cut-off city, without food and medical care, or try to escape through the mined areas, within the range of drones and fire.

Appeal from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Andriy Sybiha declared that the inhabitants of Oleski had "almost nothing left." According to information provided by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, civilians are expected to eat grass and weeds. Medicines, clean water, electricity and medical assistance are almost unavailable.

People there will not survive thanks to declarations of concern alone, emphasized the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.

Sibiha held Russia fully responsible for causing and deepening the humanitarian crisis in the occupied areas of the Kherson Oblast.

The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to the international community to use all available instruments to deliver humanitarian aid to the city and ensure residents can safely evacuate.