Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast still lack access to humanitarian aid delivered during a recent mission, while tragic events continue to unfold in the community.
“We have also received reports that people are not receiving the humanitarian aid delivered to Oleshky during the humanitarian mission,” Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky City Military Administration, said in an interview with Ukrinform.
She said residents who received aid reported being given only small amounts of food, not enough to last one person even a week. Hasanenko added that officials currently have no way to verify what is happening in the community. Some residents were also unable to evacuate for various reasons.
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“Some people say they did not even know about the evacuation. They had been staying in basements, for example, without any means of communication. Even though there was a ceasefire, people in the community are in such a state that they find it hard to believe anything. It is difficult for them to assess what is happening around them. Just because the shooting had stopped for a while did not mean they could tell an evacuation was underway,” she said.
Hasanenko added that some Oleshky residents did not receive evacuation information in time because they were hiding in basements. Others did not wait for the bus convoy on the highway or did not believe they would be allowed to leave without undergoing filtration screening.
“They set out thinking it might be a one-way trip, so to speak. But they simply could not stay there because death awaited them either way. So they took the risk,” she added.
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A ceasefire took effect at 3 a.m. on Oct. 27 in occupied Oleshky and other settlements in Kherson Oblast. During the ceasefire, routes were cleared of mines and humanitarian aid was delivered to Oleshky, where approximately 1,700 people had been without food and medicine.
The main phase of the humanitarian mission — the evacuation — began on Oct. 30, following demining operations and the delivery of humanitarian aid. A total of 25 buses with 750 seats were prepared. Oleshky residents who wanted to return to Ukrainian-controlled territory traveled to the Russian city of Anapa in Krasnodar Krai. From there, they flew to Belarus aboard four aircraft before continuing by bus to Ukraine.
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On Nov. 1, U.S. first lady Melania Trump wrote on X that the humanitarian mission in Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, had been successful.
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