Kiev, Sept 27. (dpa/GNA) – Ukrainian forces have delivered 4 metric tons of food by cargo drone to the city of Oleshky, which has been blockaded for months under Russian occupation in the south of the country, authorities said on Sunday.
Russia is holding around 2,000 people in the city, including nearly 50 children, Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Ukrainian Kherson region, said in a post on Telegram: “They are forced to survive without food, electricity or water.”
He shared a video showing the alleged food drop. Aid organizations have long raised the alarm over the humanitarian situation in the town, which lies on the southern bank of the Dnipro river.
The regional capital Kherson, held by Ukraine, is just 9 kilometres away, but the front line runs between them. After years of mutual shelling, the area around Oleshky is heavily mined, making it life-threatening to leave in any direction.
The last shop closed in January, according to the UN. No food has reached the town since May.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, acknowledged the critical situation earlier last week, but accused the Ukrainian army of preventing food deliveries to Oleshky through drone strikes.
Prokudin in turn said the occupying forces were mistreating residents, who tried to collect the Ukrainian aid drops.
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, called on Friday for an immediate local ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid in and civilians out.
All attempts to establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate people from the city have so far failed.
GNA