Before the start of the war, Oleshky had a population of approximately 24,000. Now, according to Ukrainian government estimates reported by the BBC, around 6,000 people live in the city and surrounding areas, including 200 children, the elderly, the disabled and the frail. And according to a report by the Washington Post, it is impossible to escape from there, because the town is on the so-called "road of death", a road strewn with mines on which many have lost their lives or been seriously injured. Furthermore, Oleshky is one of the centers where thousands of people lost their homes due to the collapse of the Nova Khakovka dam in 2023: Kiev and NATO accused Russia of blowing up the structure, while Moscow blamed Ukraine.
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In Oleshky there are no food supplies, because according to some UN reports they have been "seriously interrupted". The local hospital is virtually out of action and is running out of fuel "to run the generators" - several witnesses told the BBC that it is opened a few days a week to carry out emergency amputations.
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Furthermore, running water, gas and electricity no longer arrive, and the streets are full of the bodies of drone and mine victims, who remain without burial because it is prohibited by the Russian occupation authorities in the absence of an autopsy. “They don't let us bury the dead if they were killed by a drone, if they stepped on a landmine or if they died in any other way,” one witness told the BBC. Only those who died of natural causes can be buried, the woman added, and as a result "some bodies have been lying on the streets since December. If you try to bury a corpse, you will become next."
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"There is no food here in the city," a resident of Oleshky told the BBC, saying the last food delivery was in May. "I eat only once a day, just dinner - he added - I prepare simple bread, sometimes I accompany it with a tomato or a little honey and I drink tea. That's all." Furthermore, explains the British newspaper, many residents cook using weeds from the garden because the vegetables they managed to grow during the summer are now finished. And hunger also seems to be affecting the Russian soldiers occupying the area: several inhabitants of Oleshky said they had been threatened at gunpoint by soldiers from Moscow looking for a meal.
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In this context, Putin - reports the Kremlin quoted by the Interfax agency - during the phone call with Pope Leo XIV provided "complete explanations regarding the responsibility of the Kiev regime for the difficult humanitarian situation" created in the city of Oleshky. The Russian leader however assured support for "the Vatican's intention to help create conditions to ensure the safety of the city's population and organize vital supplies" and the two therefore "agreed to interact in this regard". Finally, Putin "thanked Pope Leo
The Russian president's response is nothing new: Amnesty International has already denounced that Russians and Ukrainians blame Oleshky for the situation. Kiev claims to have attempted to deliver essential goods to the town via drones, but claims that enemy forces shoot them down and confiscate their cargo, also exerting pressure and violence on people who manage to take something. The Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman also reported that Moscow ignored Ukrainian proposals to agree on a safe evacuation of the civilian population. For their part, the Russian authorities instead attribute the ongoing humanitarian crisis to Kiev's military operations, claiming that the location is subject to a blockade implemented by the Ukrainians.
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