Fewer than 2,000 people remain in Russian-occupied Oleshky as winter nears with no evacuation deal

Mixed · 2Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city on the Dnipro River in southeastern Ukraine, has had scarce food and medical supplies for months, and has no electricity, heating or running water, according to an Associated Press report. 1 2 Mixed · 2The remaining population has fallen to fewer than 2,000, from about 24,000 before Moscow's forces captured the city on the first day of the full-scale invasion in 2022. 1 2 Right · 1The city was further hit in June 2023, when floodwaters followed the Kakhovka Dam collapse; an AP investigation found the explosion was likely caused by the Russian military, and hundreds of residents were killed. 1

Mixed · 2A 40-year-old former hairdresser, who fled in August and spoke anonymously, walked 20 kilometres (12 miles) along the partly mined route to the occupied village of Radensk, known as "the road of death", saying "every step could have been my last"; she said an acquaintance bringing food was killed on the road when his car came under fire. 1 2 Mixed · 2Tetiana Hasanenko, the exiled head of the city's Ukrainian military administration, said the route is called "the road of death" because corpses lie on it, citing an explosion this month that killed four people; she also said about 100 bodies fill the hospital basement and at least 35 children remain in the city. 1 2 Mixed · 2The UN human rights office said the last regular food delivery by road was on 26 May, and that the hospital lacks medicine and basic supplies while drone attacks stop ambulances reaching patients; Russian-installed officials said this month they delivered 2 tonnes of aid but admitted it was hardly enough. 1 2

Mixed · 2Lt. Yevhen Voronetskyi of Ukraine's 34th Separate Marine Brigade said his unit has flown food, hygiene kits and medicine, including insulin, into the city by drone for at least a year, and that the aid is meant to help people gather strength to leave rather than to last the winter; the two outlets give different totals delivered since September (more than 7 tons versus more than two tonnes). 1 2 Mixed · 2Russia says Ukraine deliberately blocks supplies and evacuations, while Kyiv says Moscow is effectively holding civilians hostage; Ukraine has repeatedly asked for a local ceasefire to organise evacuations, and Russia, which as occupying power is obliged under international law to ensure civilians have what they need to survive, has made no commitment. 1 2 Mixed · 2President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 12 October at a forum in Poland that Oleshky had been "razed to the ground", and on Friday Pope Leo XIV urged President Vladimir Putin by phone to agree a ceasefire for aid deliveries and evacuations, the Vatican said; the Kremlin said Putin backed the Vatican's efforts and was ready to cooperate. 1 2

Mixed · 2The UN human rights office said Russia and Ukraine have discussed a temporary ceasefire and humanitarian corridor without agreement; Ukraine's human rights commissioner's office said Russia has not given clear, verifiable guarantees; Russian-installed officials said mined roads make evacuation impossible and not all residents want to leave; and the ICRC said it would help only if both sides agree and civilians have security guarantees. 1 2 Mixed · 2Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed governor of the occupied part of Kherson region, promised earlier this month to help anyone wishing to leave, but the former hairdresser said residents' appeals and lists of people wanting to leave led to nothing. 1 2