Ludmilla clutches her phone on the rooftop of a fire-damaged house, describing a city slowly suffocating under the weight of war. Oleshky, a frontline city in southern Ukraine, has been largely cut off from fresh food and medicine supplies for months, trapping its remaining 2,000 residents in what residents call an impossible choice: stay and starve, or risk their lives fleeing along a heavily mined road dubbed “The Road of Death.” Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the city has been imprisoned by geography and conflict—cut off by a destroyed river crossing to the north and dangerous, impassable roads inland. As Ukrainian forces hold positions just across the Dnipro river near the recaptured city of Kherson, civilians caught between the opposing armies face a deepening humanitarian crisis, with Ukraine’s human rights commissioner warning of catastrophic conditions.
A Town Cut From the World
Oleshky’s isolation is both tangible and absolute. The city sits on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river, with all bridges to the north destroyed or rendered impassable. To the south and southwest, roads inland are either hazardous or completely blocked. This geographical trap has been made substantially worse by the ongoing conflict. Russian forces control the city itself, whilst Ukrainian troops are positioned on the far riverbank near Kherson, which they recovered in November 2022. Caught between two armies, Oleshky has become a forgotten pocket of territory where normal supply lines have effectively ceased to exist.
The impacts for ordinary residents have been severe. For extended periods, food and medical supplies have been largely inaccessible, compelling people to search deserted buildings and depend completely on irregular supplies from volunteers and aid organisations. Tinned products and pasta have emerged as the staple diet for people still there. Even basic goods have soared, making them unaffordable for many. The conditions worsened more severely in winter, when substantial snowfall covered the vast minefield encircling potential routes out, heightening the sense of desperation. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner has formally warned of a humanitarian crisis unfolding within the city’s walls.
- Dnipro river severs northern escape routes with ruined bridging infrastructure
- Russian occupation governs the city; Ukrainian forces maintain positions on the far bank
- Fresh supplies scarcely obtainable; residents scavenge vacant properties for food
- Winter snowfall concealed mines; the situation stays hazardous despite seasonal thaw
The Dangerous Choice: Remain or Escape
For the approximately 2,000 civilians still remaining in Oleshky, the choice to depart is not a straightforward one. To stay means suffering deteriorating conditions, severe malnutrition, and the constant threat of shelling and drone attacks. Yet departing entails its own frightening calculation. Those who seek to leave must traverse what people have grimly termed “The Road of Death” – a road so densely mined that each passage becomes a bet with one’s life. Locals recount the mental anguish of this dilemma: staying in a deteriorating city or risking death on the escape routes.
Some families have gathered the strength to flee despite the challenges. Volodymyr, a man in his 50s, ultimately chose that his family could no longer withstand the mental and physical strain of existence in a conflict zone. After seeing his neighbour’s remains being removed following a bombardment, and enduring continuous drone monitoring, he made the painful choice to depart. His description of the escape route reveals the horror that awaits those brave enough to try: the full length of the road is strewn with destroyed cars, some holding the bodies of those who failed to survive the attempt.
Escape Routes Lined With Danger
The main escape route runs south-west along the Dnipro river towards Hola Prystan’, but this path is treacherous. Widespread mine placement has made the roads hazardous and unreliable. During winter, when snow engulfed the landscape, spotting hazardous areas became extremely difficult, compelling residents to postpone their attempts. Even now, as the snow has disappeared, residents and volunteers remain intensely concerned that the mines remain buried beneath the surface, waiting to claim unwary travellers.
Despite these alarming conditions, some evacuations have succeeded, generally organised through voluntary groups using ambulances and additional vehicles. Those who have made the journey describe offering prayers through the drive, seeking to evade the hidden explosives. The scorched wrecks of cars flanking the passage function as grim reminders of previous attempts. Yet for some families, the risk of the road has proved less daunting than the inevitability of gradual decline within Oleshky’s isolated confines.
- Road running south-west towards Hola Prystan’ heavily mined; winter snow masked danger
- Evacuations coordinated by local helpers using ambulances; survivors describe constant prayer
- Highway strewn with destroyed vehicles; some evacuations have succeeded despite risks
Signs of Destruction on the Ground
Satellite photos and firsthand reports reveal a grim situation of Oleshky’s decline following prolonged isolation and conflict. The city, formerly inhabited by tens of thousands, now shelters roughly 2,000 residents who have chosen to remain in spite of the severe conditions. Images acquired by the BBC document busy settings in city squares where older inhabitants wait for fresh supplies provided by aid organisations—a stark illustration of the humanitarian strain. The photographic record corroborates residents’ descriptions of deterioration and hardship, with empty buildings providing a grim backdrop to daily survival efforts.
| Location | Observations |
|---|---|
| City squares | Crowds of elderly residents gathering for aid deliveries; fresh supplies rare and expensive |
| Highway to Hola Prystan’ | Littered with burnt-out vehicles; some cars burned with occupants still inside |
| Residential areas | Fire-damaged houses; abandoned homes stripped for food and resources by neighbours |
| Rooftops and vantage points | Used by residents for phone communication; surveillance by opposing drone activity |
The structural devastation evident throughout Oleshky demonstrates not merely the signs of conflict but the cumulative toll of prolonged isolation. Residents have turned to foraging in abandoned properties for food, whilst basic staples like tinned foods and pasta now represent food essentials. The humanitarian official’s warning of an unfolding catastrophe highlights institutional anxiety about circumstances worsening as the cold season nears and supply routes stay uncertain.
Blame and Humanitarian Pleas
Ukraine’s commissioner for human rights has issued stark warnings about the worsening humanitarian emergency occurring in Oleshky, drawing international attention to conditions that officials argue amount to a deliberate blockade. The city’s isolation—whether by military necessity or strategic calculation—has created a situation where tens of thousands of residents face impossible choices: remain in a declining urban area with diminishing resources, or risk death attempting escape. Both local inhabitants and humanitarian personnel highlight the combination of mined roads, destroyed bridges, and active combat zones as producing a catastrophic situation of entrapment. The commissioner’s intervention indicates heightened concern among Ukrainian authorities about the sustainability of civilian life in this forgotten corner of the frontline.
Local volunteers and charitable groups have become vital support systems for Oleshky’s what remains of the population, coordinating risky supply missions and organised retreats despite severe difficulties. Yet their actions, despite their heroism, cannot address the core issue: a city of 2,000 people subsisting on canned food and foraged food whilst surrounded by fierce fighting. Ludmilla’s account from her burnt-out roof encapsulates the anguish—people “fighting to endure” in a place where simply surviving feels progressively uncertain. The humanitarian toll extends past inadequate nutrition and healthcare to encompass emotional devastation, as residents observe ruin and fatalities on a scale that tests human resilience.
Global Response and Accountability
The plight of Oleshky residents highlights critical issues about international humanitarian obligations and the obligation of warring parties to safeguard civilian populations. Russia’s continued occupation of the city and Ukrainian combat operations across the Dnipro river both contribute to the perilous situation, yet frameworks for responsibility remain unclear. International organisations monitoring the conflict have catalogued the situation, but turning documentation into substantive action has proved challenging given the ongoing military deadlock. The shortage of a clear pathway to either continued humanitarian assistance or removal of civilians highlights the limitations of external pressure in areas of active warfare.
Calls for aid passages and demilitarised evacuation routes have gained urgency as conditions deteriorate further. Aid workers argue that both Russian and Ukrainian forces have responsibilities according to international conventions to enable safe movement of civilians and shield innocent populations. Yet military realities on the ground—the strategic importance of the Dnipro crossing, the danger of militarised aid operations—complicate implementation. Without binding accords between conflicting sides and worldwide safeguards, Oleshky’s residents find themselves in a legal and practical vacuum, their lives reliant upon the voluntary assistance of aid workers rather than the security provided by international conventions.
Those Who Remain
Oleshky’s declining population tells a story of difficult decisions. Of the city’s wartime population, only some 2,000 people stay, clinging to their homes in spite of conditions that deteriorate by the day. Those who have chosen to stay cite different motivations: elderly relatives too frail to risk the journey, strong ties to a community built over generations, or simply a paralyzing fear of what lies past the mined roads. For many, the known dangers of staying have appeared somewhat preferable to the uncertain dangers of making an escape along the “Road of Death.”
Daily life in Oleshky has been stripped down to its most basic elements. Residents search through abandoned neighbouring homes for scraps, adding to their food intake with pasta and tinned goods when volunteers are able to deliver supplies. The psychological toll is considerable: witnessing shelling, hearing the perpetual sound of aircraft overhead, and living under Russian occupation whilst Ukrainian forces position themselves just across the river. Yet despite these difficult conditions, the residents who remain show a stubborn resilience, maintaining hope that circumstances might get better eventually or that evacuation routes will become safer.
- Roughly 2,000 residents remain in Oleshky, down substantially from pre-conflict population levels.
- Residents rely on scavenged provisions from abandoned homes and occasional volunteer-organised supply deliveries.
- Senior and frail residents experience considerable challenges to evacuation due to mobility difficulties and health issues.