Russians are confiscating food delivered to Oleshky residents by drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Russian servicemen are taking food packages from residents of the temporarily occupied Oleshky in Kherson region, where people are suffering from food shortages. Yesterday the aid was delivered by Ukrainian forces using drones. This was told to Ukrinform by the head of the Oleshky City Military Administration, Tetiana Hasanenko.

During this delivery the Armed Forces of Ukraine handed over about 4 tons of food to 100 designated locations. According to the head of the administration, the military had dropped food to residents before, but this transfer was the largest.

The occupiers not only take the packages. Upon seeing non-Russian-made food with locals, they conduct interrogations and accuse people of collaborating with Ukrainian forces. Tetiana Hasanenko provided the explanation the Russians use to justify such accusations:

If the Armed Forces of Ukraine drop food to you, it means you are collaborating with them.

In the Oleshky community abductions of civilians are also continuing. Russian servicemen are taking local residents, and their families do not know where their loved ones are being held. The head of the military administration spoke about the disappearance of a family:

We have a family that disappeared without a trace. We don’t know where they are, they were taken to a basement — and that’s it. Whether they are alive or not — unknown.

Shortage of essentials and a de facto ban on leaving

In 2026 humanitarian conditions in Oleshky worsened. There is no stable supply of electricity and gas; access to food, medicine and drinking water is limited. As residents themselves repeatedly reported, they are finishing their own reserves and garden produce, and sell or barter food. At the same time they are effectively not allowed to leave the occupied city.

To deliver food and medicines to residents, Ukrainian forces tried to use large drones. The Ukrainian side also repeatedly tried to organize evacuation of civilians and delivery of humanitarian aid. However, the fighting and the actions of Russian troops make these attempts extremely difficult.

Oleshky have been occupied by Russians since the beginning of the full‑scale invasion. The city on the left bank of Kherson region is located near the front line, so civilians are constantly threatened by shelling and drone attacks. In 2023 it suffered significant destruction due to flooding after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka HPP. Damaged infrastructure deprived residents of normal access to utilities.

Calls to draw attention to Oleshky

Public figures also spoke about the critical situation in the occupied city:

• Ukrainian tennis player Oleksandra Oliynykova called to draw attention to Oleshky after her victory over American Vivian Wolff in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament in Singapore.
• German designer and stylist Frank Peter Wilde posted a photo dedicated to the temporarily occupied city on social media.
• The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, said the humanitarian situation has sharply deteriorated. He emphasized that civilians lack food, medicine, medical assistance, water and electricity.

Earlier we wrote:

• Grass instead of food: people in occupied Oleshky are starving
• Billions of tonnes of water covered towns and villages: anniversary of the Russian terror attack on the Kakhovka HPP
• People trapped without water, food and medicine: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sounds the alarm over the humanitarian situation in occupied Kherson region
• They beat and simulated executions: two Russians were given 11 and 12 years for torturing civilians in Mykolaiv region
• The SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General announced suspicion of a Russian general in the sabotage of the Kakhovka HPP