The city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine remains largely cut off from fresh food and medicine, its 2,000 remaining residents trapped by geography and war.
“‘The road is mined. So, we're stuck here,’” says Ludmilla, a pseudonym used for safety. She describes foraging for food in abandoned homes, surviving on pasta and tinned goods.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets warns of a humanitarian crisis in the city, which has been under Russian occupation since the full-scale invasion began.
Any attempt to leave is a gamble on what locals call the “Road of Death”-a highway littered with burnt-out vehicles and heavy mining. Satellite imagery shows at least eight damaged vehicles on a single stretch.
One evacuee, Volodymyr, described being driven out in an ambulance: “The entire highway… is littered with burnt-out cars. Some of them burned with people still inside.”
Ukrainian forces are positioned across the Dnipro river near Kherson. A Ukrainian soldier acknowledged mines used to prevent Russian resupply, but claimed volunteers are informed of safe routes.
Russia’s embassy in London blames Ukraine for the difficulties, while the Russian-appointed governor avoids mentioning the humanitarian crisis.
The International Red Cross says it is seeking more information.