Famine feared in Russian-occupied Oleshky as Ukraine airlifts aid by drone

The Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky faces a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with approximately 2,000 trapped civilians on the brink of starvation. In response, the Ukrainian military executed a major drone operation on September 26, 2026, dropping four tons of food and medical aid. Russian forces continue to block all land-based humanitarian convoys and evacuation routes, while allegedly confiscating dropped aid. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has appealed to the UN to intervene.

Humanitarian conditions inside Oleshky

• ▪Approximately 2,000 civilians, including nearly 50 children, remain trapped in Oleshky under severe starvation conditions, down from a pre-war population of 24,000.
• ▪Unburied bodies are reportedly rotting on the streets of Oleshky, and more than 100 corpses are stored in the basement of the local hospital, which has lacked electricity for four years.
• ▪Residents of Oleshky are surviving on as little as one meal a day, with some resorting to eating weeds, foraged purslane, and grass due to the complete depletion of basic food products.

Diplomatic appeals and evacuation efforts

• ▪Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty expressed alarm over the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Oleshky, warning that trapped civilians face a high risk of death.
• ▪Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha raised the humanitarian crisis facing Oleshky's roughly 2,000 trapped civilians at the United Nations General Assembly, accusing Russia of using hunger as a weapon and calling for an immediate civilian evacuation
• ▪Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that Russia has refused to agree to Ukrainian proposals for establishing a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from Oleshky.

Ukrainian drone aid deliveries

• ▪The drone aid operation conducted by Kherson's military administration over Oleshky on September 26, 2026, was carried out in waves by several Ukrainian military units, including the 34th Separate Marine Brigade and the 11th National Guard Brigade
• ▪Ukrainian military forces used heavy-lift drones to deliver approximately four tons of food and medical supplies to 100 locations simultaneously across Russian-occupied Oleshky on September 26, 2026.
• ▪Ukrainian forces have been conducting smaller-scale drone aid deliveries across the Dnipro River to Oleshky since March or April 2026.

Russian blockade and obstruction of aid

• ▪Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged critical food and medicine shortages in Oleshky but accused Ukrainian forces of blocking humanitarian supplies intended for the residents.
• ▪Russian forces have blocked all regular humanitarian aid convoys and food supplies to Oleshky since May 2026, establishing a full blockade of the city.
• ▪Russian troops in Oleshky are actively obstructing Ukrainian drone aid deliveries by shooting down drones, confiscating or reselling dropped supplies, and detaining civilians found with humanitarian parcels.

Location and background of Oleshky

• ▪Oleshky is located on the Russian-occupied left bank of the Dnipro River, just three to four kilometers across the water from the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson.
• ▪The humanitarian situation in Oleshky deteriorated sharply following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in June 2023, which flooded the region and killed at least 200 to 300 people in the city.

Debatable claims

• ▪Ukraine's drone airlift is an effective way to sustain the blockaded population of Oleshky
• ▪The United Nations should intervene to establish a humanitarian corridor in Oleshky
• ▪Russia is holding Oleshky's civilians as human shields to deter a Ukrainian offensive
• ▪Russia is deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war in Oleshky