Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
They are skeptical about the success of the humanitarian operation.
A family from Oleshky, who left the occupied city for territory controlled by Ukraine in September, doubts that the humanitarian mission will go as planned.
Vitalii and Iryna and their 13-year-old son Vladyslav left Oleshky roughly six weeks ago due to fear of an inevitable death from hunger. As the husband told Reuters, he is very skeptical about a temporary ceasefire for evacuation and aid delivery.
“I have a lot of respect for Melania Trump, but she does not influence dictator Putin,” the man said.
According to him, many of those who stayed in Oleshky are sick or elderly, and it will be hard for them to move.
Vitalii said his family survived for weeks by allowing themselves one glass of rice or buckwheat per day, occasionally adding a cucumber or tomato mixed with Portulaca.
During the summer months some residents could sell vegetables, but for most people prices were unaffordable. To buy eggs, you had to know the right people, and 10 eggs would cost about 3000 rubles (approximately 1500 hryvnias). As Vitalii said, no one agreed to sell potatoes.
After the family counted their meager supplies and recalled last winter when the temperature in their home dropped to 1-3 degrees Celsius, they decided to leave.
“You look at what is left of your food supplies and realize you have only one path — walk on foot or die of hunger,” Vitalii said.
Iryna says that their house in Oleshky was damaged by a drone, so basically there is nothing left there.
13 in September the family joined a small group of eight people and walked to the village of Radensk about 20 kilometers away. They took only autumn clothes, Vlad’s plush bear, a cat, and a few family photos.
The couple says the road was mined and drones flew overhead. Vitalii says that as they passed by they saw a woman's body lying on the road.
From Radensk the family moved deeper into the occupied Ukrainian territory, and after lengthy interrogations by authorities at the border they entered Russia, and finally left for Belarus. 17 in September they were able to return to Ukraine.
Currently the family settled in Kyiv oblast, and one of their first purchases was a bag of potatoes to make mashed potatoes for their son.
“The child will go to school. We will work. My wife needs to regain some health,” Vitalii said.
He does not rule out that he will soon be mobilized into the army or go to work in weapons production, “to help the country defeat the enemies.”
In the night of 27 October a ceasefire regime began in Oleshky and surrounding villages to carry out the soon-to-be humanitarian mission to the city — delivering food supplies and creating the opportunity for evacuation. It is expected that the evacuation itself will begin 29 October, while preparatory work will take place beforehand. The ceasefire was reached with the mediation of US First Lady Melania Trump.
The city of Oleshky in Kherson region has been under occupation since February 2022 year. In June 2023 year Oleshky and surrounding villages found themselves at the epicenter of an ecological disaster when Russians blew up the Kakhovka Reservoir dam, and water flooded many villages and towns downstream. The left bank of the Dnipro, which is under Russian occupation, was most affected. Russian troops deliberately hindered local residents from escaping the disaster. The number of deaths among residents of Kherson region due to this crime is still not established. Since then, infrastructure in the region remains ruined, and people are isolated without access to medicine and food. At the same time, Russian troops often hinder civilians trying to leave the city.
Before the full-scale war, about 24 000 residents lived in Oleshky. According to the UN Mission on monitoring human rights in Ukraine, about 1700 residents still live here, including about 35 children.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "«Йти пішки або померти з голоду»: сім'я з Олешок розповіла про втечу з окупованого міста". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
