‘The smell of death is everywhere’: Inside the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Russian-occupied Oleshky, where hundreds are trapped without food, electricity, or medicine

Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region are living without electricity, food or medicine after the city was cut off this fall, with every exit mined or blocked by Russian troops. A former resident turned volunteer, Kseniia Arkhipova, says no supply vehicle has reached the city since spring, with those that tried coming under fire; she has confirmed 136 deaths since the invasion began.

The city, already devastated by the 2023 Kakhovka dam flooding that destroyed its infrastructure, relies on residents with working wells for water, and even that requires fuel for generators that ran out in late spring. The occupation administration blames Ukrainian drones for blockading aid convoys, while residents interviewed describe relatives hiding in basements and dying without help reaching them.

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