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 City Isolated Off From Civilisation
Oleshky’s isolation is both tangible and absolute. The city is located on the east bank of the Dnipro river, with all bridges to the north destroyed or rendered impassable. To the south and southwest, roads inland are either dangerous or blocked entirely. This geographical predicament has been made considerably worse by the continuing conflict. Russian forces hold the city itself, whilst Ukrainian troops are dug in on the other side of the river near Kherson, which they recovered in November 2022. Sandwiched between opposing armies, Oleshky has become a neglected pocket of territory where standard supply routes have completely stopped functioning.
The consequences for ordinary residents have been devastating. For extended periods, fresh food and medicine have been extremely scarce, compelling people to scavenge abandoned homes and subsist on sporadic deliveries from humanitarian groups. Pasta and tinned goods have formed the main food source for people still there. Even basic goods have increased dramatically, making them beyond the reach of many. The situation deteriorated considerably when winter arrived, when heavy snowfall covered the extensive minefield around possible escape paths, deepening feelings of despair. The Ukrainian human rights commissioner has issued a formal warning of a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding within the city’s walls.
- Dnipro river cuts off northern escape routes with destroyed bridges
- Russian occupation holds the city; Ukrainian forces maintain positions on opposite riverbank
- New provisions virtually unavailable; residents forage deserted buildings for sustenance
- Winter snowfall concealed mines; conditions remain dangerous despite seasonal thaw
The Difficult Decision: Stay or Escape
For the around 2,000 civilians still remaining in Oleshky, the decision to depart is not a straightforward one. To stay means enduring deteriorating conditions, malnutrition, and the ongoing threat of artillery fire and drone strikes. Yet leaving involves its own terrifying calculus. Those who seek to leave must cross what residents have called “The Road of Death” – a road so densely mined that each journey becomes a risk to life. Residents describe the mental anguish of this decision: staying in a deteriorating city or risking death on the escape routes.
Some families have gathered the strength to attempt escape despite the challenges. Volodymyr, a man in his 50s, ultimately chose that his family could no longer endure the emotional and physical burden of existence in a conflict zone. After observing a neighbour’s body being retrieved following a shelling attack, and existing under relentless aerial surveillance, he made the agonising decision to evacuate. His narrative of the evacuation process reveals the horror that awaits those brave enough to try: the full length of the road is littered with burnt-out vehicles, some containing the remains of those who did not make it through the journey.
Exit Paths Lined With Danger
The principal escape route runs south-west along the Dnipro river towards Hola Prystan’, but this path is perilous. Heavy mining operations has made the roads hazardous and unreliable. During winter, when snow engulfed the landscape, identifying danger points became extremely difficult, compelling residents to postpone their attempts. Even now, as the snow has disappeared, residents and volunteers remain deeply fearful that the mines remain hidden below ground, waiting to claim unsuspecting travellers.
Despite these alarming conditions, some evacuees have escaped successfully, generally organised through aid organisations deploying ambulances and other vehicles. Those who have made the journey describe praying throughout the drive, attempting to escape the hidden explosives. The burnt-out shells of cars lining the route act as stark warnings of previous attempts. Yet for some families, the risk of the road has become preferable to the certainty of gradual decline within the isolated city of Oleshky.
- Road heading south-west towards Hola Prystan’ extensively mined; winter snow concealed danger
- Evacuations coordinated by community members using ambulances; survivors report constant prayer
- Highway littered with charred vehicles; some evacuations have been successful despite risks
Evidence of Damage on the Ground
Satellite photos and firsthand reports reveal a grim situation of Oleshky’s deterioration under months of isolation and conflict. The city, formerly inhabited by tens of thousands, now shelters roughly 2,000 residents who have decided to stay despite the dire circumstances. Images acquired by the BBC document crowded scenes in city squares where elderly residents wait for fresh supplies delivered by aid organisations—a striking example of the human cost. The photographic record corroborates residents’ accounts of deterioration and hardship, with abandoned homes serving as a stark contrast 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 apparent in Oleshky reflects not merely the scars of combat but the cumulative toll of prolonged isolation. Residents have resorted to foraging in empty structures for food, whilst essential provisions like preserved foods and pasta now represent dietary mainstays. The relief coordinator’s caution about an emerging crisis underscores governmental worry about circumstances worsening as the cold season nears and delivery lines stay uncertain.
Blame and Humanitarian Pleas
Ukraine’s commissioner for human rights has raised serious concerns about the worsening humanitarian emergency unfolding in Oleshky, attracting global scrutiny to conditions that officials argue amount to a deliberate blockade. The city’s isolation—whether by military requirement or tactical consideration—has created a situation where tens of thousands of residents confront untenable options: stay within a declining urban area with dwindling supplies, or risk fatal attempts at escape. Residents and aid workers alike highlight the convergence of roadside mines, collapsed bridges, and ongoing warfare as creating a perfect storm of entrapment. The ombudsman’s involvement signals growing alarm among Ukrainian authorities about the sustainability of civilian life in this forgotten corner of the frontline.
Local volunteers and charitable groups have become essential resources for Oleshky’s remaining population, coordinating risky supply missions and coordinated evacuations despite overwhelming obstacles. Yet their work, however heroic, cannot resolve the core issue: a city of 2,000 people surviving on preserved provisions and gathered provisions whilst surrounded by fierce fighting. Ludmilla’s account from her burnt-out roof encapsulates the anguish—people “doing everything possible to stay alive” in a place where mere survival feels increasingly precarious. The human cost extends beyond hunger and medical shortages to include mental suffering, as residents witness ruin and fatalities on a magnitude that strains our capacity to endure.
International Response and Accountability
The difficult situation of Oleshky residents highlights urgent concerns about international humanitarian obligations and the duty of conflicting sides to ensure civilian safety. Russia’s sustained control of the city and Ukrainian combat operations across the Dnipro river both add to the hazardous environment, yet systems of accountability lack clarity. International bodies overseeing the conflict have documented the situation, but turning documentation into substantive action has proven difficult given the active military standoff. The lack of a defined route to either continued humanitarian assistance or civilian evacuation emphasises the shortcomings of global pressure in ongoing conflict areas.
Calls for humanitarian corridors and neutral escape pathways have taken on greater importance as circumstances decline. Aid workers contend that both Russian and Ukrainian forces have obligations under international law to facilitate civilian passage and protect non-combatants. Yet strategic military circumstances—the strategic importance of the Dnipro crossing, the risk of weaponised humanitarian movements—obstruct realisation. Without formal arrangements between conflicting sides and international guarantees, Oleshky’s residents find themselves in a legal and practical vacuum, their existence contingent on the voluntary assistance of aid workers rather than the security provided by international conventions.
The Ones Who Stay
Oleshky’s declining population reveals stark realities. Of the city’s wartime population, only roughly 2,000 people stay, clinging to their homes in spite of conditions that decline steadily. Those who remain cite different motivations: elderly relatives too weak to risk the journey, long-standing connections to a community passed down through generations, or simply a deep anxiety of what lies past the mined roads. For many, the known dangers of staying have appeared somewhat preferable to the unknown horrors of making an escape along the “Road of Death.”
Daily life in Oleshky has been stripped down to its most basic elements. Residents forage through abandoned neighbouring homes for scraps, adding to their food intake with pasta and tinned goods when volunteers succeed in deliver supplies. The psychological toll is substantial: 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 challenging situations, the residents who remain display 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-war population figures.
- Residents subsist on gathered foodstuffs from abandoned homes and sporadic aid deliveries arranged by volunteers.
- Elderly and infirm residents face particular barriers to evacuation due to physical limitations and medical conditions.