Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky risk deadly mine-strewn routes for food
People in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied Ukrainian town, walk or bike along a mine-filled road to obtain food and water, despite recent deaths and drone activity.
Oleshky in Ukraine’s Kherson region, once home to about 24,000 people, now shelters roughly 1,700 residents, including 47 children, under Russian occupation. Food deliveries stopped in May, prompting locals to trek 20 km to Radensk for essentials, navigating a road scarred by burned vehicles, blast marks and active landmines patrolled by drones. Witnesses recount injuries and three recent fatalities on this “road of death,” reflecting growing desperation.
Ukraine’s human-rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets says civilians face a stark choice between starvation and lethal travel, while Kyiv’s ceasefire proposal was turned down by Russia. Russian authorities acknowledge supply problems but accuse Ukraine of obstruction; the Russian defence ministry and occupied-region officials have not responded. Ukrainian forces claim to have dropped food by drone, but those reports remain unverified.
Why it matters
It shows the severe humanitarian danger civilians face in the Ukraine-Russia war.
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