Russians seize food supplies dropped to Oleshky residents by Ukrainian military

Tetiana Hasanenko, Head of Oleshky City Military Administration, has stated that Russian occupiers are confiscating food packages dropped by the Ukrainian military via drones to local residents in Oleshky.

Source: Hasanenko in a comment to Ukrinform

Quote: "This is not the first time the Ukrainian military has dropped food to people in the community using drones, but the most recent operation was the largest aid delivery yet – four tonnes.

Naturally, some received a package, some got several, and others received nothing at all.

Regarding whether the Russians are taking these food products away from people – yes, they are.

Furthermore, if the items are not Russian-made, they immediately ask residents: 'Where did you get this?' They tell them: 'If the Ukrainian Armed Forces are dropping food to you, it means you are collaborating with them.' Meanwhile, the occupiers consider the city as Russian territory and the local residents are Russian citizens who are violating Russian law by cooperating with Ukraine."

Details: According to Hasanenko, residents in the community continue to disappear as a result of abductions by Russian forces: "People are being taken away; an entire family has disappeared without a trace. We do not know where they are – they were taken to a basement [a torture chamber] and that is all. Whether they are alive or not is unknown."

Read more: Oleshky under siege: a city where people eat grass, hide bodies in a hospital basement and wait for an evacuation that never comes

Background:

• On 19 September, the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations reported a critical humanitarian situation in occupied Oleshky.
• Hasanenko said that food was last officially delivered to Oleshky on 26 May and that there are now cases of families eating dogs. Over 6,000 people, including roughly 200 children, might still remain in Oleshky and the surrounding district.
• Ukrainian forces carried out one of their largest humanitarian aid delivery operations to Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, using drones to transport nearly 4,000 kg of food.
• At the end of March, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that Oleshky "is not living, but surviving".

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