Second Oleshky? Is an occupied Enerhodar facing a humanitarian catastrophe

In occupied Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia, according to local gauleiters, about 10-12 thousand people remain. The city has been without gas for a month and a half, equipment at three substations has been damaged, and mines have appeared on the roads that provide access to the city. “Humanitarian catastrophe” was declared by the head of the occupation administration, Maksim Pukhov, speaking at a so‑called international teleconference hosted by the Organization for Security and Co‑operation in Europe (OSCE).

The Center for the Study of Occupation warns that Enerhodar could repeat the fate of Oleshky in Kherson region, which have been effectively cut off from supplies since the end of May. Russia, of course, blames the Ukrainian Armed Forces for all problems and itself actively uses the comparison with Oleshky, putting a propagandistic spin on it.

Hlavkom compiled information about the situation in Enerhodar, which was a flourishing city of Ukrainian nuclear energy workers, from various sources and spoke with the legitimately elected mayor and now head of the military administration, Dmytro Orlov.

What the occupiers say

On 22 October, gauleiter Maksim Pukhov spoke at the so‑called international teleconference at the OSCE platform devoted to the situation in Zaporizhzhia region. Pukhov himself is the former mayor of the Russian town Polyarnye Zori in Murmansk region, who, as Hlavkom previously wrote, initially became the first deputy of Enerhodar’s occupation mayor. He now heads the city’s occupation administration. According to Pukhov, Enerhodar is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe; about 12 thousand residents remain in the city, and half the population left over six months.

Among the main problems he named the lack of gas. He said that as a result of a series of strikes on gas distribution equipment, a branch of the main gas pipeline that supplied natural gas to Enerhodar and Kamianka‑Dniprovska district was damaged, so for a month and a half people in gasified neighborhoods simply cannot cook on gas stoves. He also reported that electrotechnical equipment at three substations has been destroyed, and fuel has to be brought from Melitopol, because, he said, the nearest gas stations are located there. Pukhov added that from May to October more than 300 civilian cars were destroyed in the city.

Pukhov blames the Ukrainian army for all these troubles. In his version, the Ukrainian Armed Forces systematically mine the access roads by dropping mines from heavy drones and seek to take control of all routes to the city. He links this to the safety of the nearby Zaporizhzhia NPP: in his view, the situation in Enerhodar directly affects the plant.

The occupation pseudo‑mayor of Enerhodar accuses the Ukrainian Armed Forces of attacks on the city

photo from Pukhov’s Telegram channel

Similar propagandistic statements are made by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Special‑assignments ambassador Rodion Miroshnyk on 20 October spoke about “attempts at a transport blockade” of Enerhodar, and on 22 October said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly block supplies to Enerhodar, Vasylivka and Kamianka‑Dniprovska “by analogy with Oleshky.” Miroshnyk also claims that up to 40 shops have been destroyed in Enerhodar in recent months.

Russia also accuses Ukraine of strikes on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to Russian media, on 21 October, a driver of a service bus of the ZNPP who was returning to the garage after dropping off workers was killed in a drone attack. At the same time, these claims are spread by Russian sources, and there is no independent confirmation of the circumstances of the incident in the cited reports.

What the Ukrainian side says

The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the “teleconference” featuring gauleiter Pukhov was part of a Russian information special operation intended to divert attention from the humanitarian catastrophe in occupied Oleshky in Kherson region and discredit the Defense Forces of Ukraine. According to intelligence, the event planned to show prearranged testimonies of people presented as “victims of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ crimes.” Among the announced participants were the occupation head of Zaporizhzhia region, state traitor Yevhen Balytskyi, and “mayor” Maksim Pukhov.

The GUR believes that Russia tried to use the event to shift responsibility for the situation in the occupied territories onto Ukraine and weaken Kyiv’s support among international partners.

The story about mining began with statements from the occupiers themselves. On 15 October the occupation authorities published a warning urging people not to travel on the Michurinska highway, which connects the village of Vodyane with Enerhodar, because the road was allegedly mined. The next day, Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, said that the Russians had indeed mined this road and threatened to do the same to other access routes to the city.

A section of road mined by the occupiers

data: Andriushchenko Time / Telegram

According to the Center’s assessment, if movement is restricted on several independent routes at once, the city’s supply will be at risk, and it was precisely such a gradual restriction of connections that began the catastrophe in Oleshky. At the same time, Andriushchenko says, Russia continues to supply its workers at the ZNPP, citing the need to guarantee nuclear safety. Local residents, however, may be left without food and medicine.

Andriushchenko also drew attention to the figures Pukhov himself named. In April the occupation head spoke of about 23 thousand residents, in October about 12 thousand, so the reported number of people over six months has almost halved. In addition, Andriushchenko says, gas stations in the city are not operating, all ambulances are damaged, and schooling has stopped.

Ukrainian structures had spoken earlier about the difficult situation in the city. As early as summer the Center for National Resistance reported that Enerhodar had been without stable power and water for several months: water, according to its data, was given for approximately half an hour a day so that people could fill containers in that time.

City mayor Dmytro Orlov also reported interruptions in communal services in Enerhodar. According to him, some neighborhoods have been without electricity for weeks. Due to prolonged outages, residents could not properly store food, and communal services effectively did not operate.

“People physically cannot stay there”

Enerhodar mayor Dmytro Orlov and his team are working in Zaporizhzhia, and he learns about what is happening in the occupied city through relatives and acquaintances of those who remained. He told Hlavkom about power and water outages, how many people remain in the city, prices, and communication with the occupied territory.

The mayor of Enerhodar and the city administration are in Zaporizhzhia

photo from open sources

Orlov declined to comment on what the occupiers say about the city on their social networks, and said only a few things can be stated with certainty. The city indeed has interruptions in electricity and water, and delivery of goods needed to sustain life is difficult. The best indication of the situation in Enerhodar, he said, is that people are leaving en masse: this process has noticeably intensified over the past two months.

“Given the conditions now in Enerhodar, people simply cannot physically stay there,” Orlov states.

At present it is possible to leave occupied Enerhodar through Russia, and then via Belarus into Ukraine or through other countries, including Georgia or Moldova. Which route to choose depends on the documents a person has, in particular possession of Ukrainian internal and international passports.

Before the occupation, the flourishing Enerhodar had 53 thousand residents. Most left in the first years, when leaving the occupation was, although not easy, not as difficult as it is now. Now, the mayor says, the occupiers have tightened filtration and increasingly resort to repression, especially closer to the line of contact. According to calculations by the legitimate city authorities, about 10 thousand people remain in the city, which is about 20% of the prewar population, and that number continues to decline.

Orlov separately named the number of workers remaining at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Before the occupation about 11 thousand people worked there; now roughly two thousand remain.

Living in Enerhodar is also hard because of the city’s layout. Orlov explains that it is mostly built up with apartment buildings, and about 80% of it is not gasified.

“In multi‑story buildings it is now very hard because of the lack of electricity, water, gas. I won’t even mention elevators—they haven’t worked for four or five years,” the mayor says.

Because of this, most of those who remain move to dachas or private houses if they have them: there the conditions for a more or less comfortable life are better.

Logistics in Enerhodar are complicated

Communication with the occupied territory, Orlov says, is very difficult. The occupiers track attempts to contact territory controlled by Ukraine, so for the safety of residents the city government does not maintain direct contacts with those who stayed in the city.

“But that does not mean there is no information: it reaches us through relatives and acquaintances,” Dmytro Orlov says.

He added that the occupiers themselves publish a lot of useful information for understanding the situation on social networks.

Orlov confirmed there are problems with deliveries. Delivering goods to the city is difficult because truck drivers do not feel safe in occupied territory. “If logistics are complicated, speculation takes hold,” he explains.

Fuel, food, hygiene products and medicines in Enerhodar cost significantly more than in other occupied territories located farther from the line of contact.

Orlov could not comment on reports of mined roads around Enerhodar. He said there are no witnesses who left the city and personally saw this happening, and he avoids commenting on information from social networks because it may be unreliable.

Could Enerhodar become a second Oleshky?

At the end of May the occupation administration in Oleshky in Kherson region stopped bringing in food and medicine, citing the threat of drone attacks. Since then the city has been effectively isolated: food stocks ran out, medicines were scarce, and due to damaged infrastructure and the effects of flooding after the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP in 2023, residents also had problems with electricity and water supply. Roads to the city were mined, making it extremely difficult to deliver aid and evacuate civilians. About two thousand people remained in Oleshky.

On 27 October a ceasefire regime was introduced in the Oleshky area for a humanitarian mission intended to deliver aid and create conditions for those wishing to leave.

The situation in Enerhodar is currently different. Residents continue to leave, although the journey is difficult and can take about a day. At the same time, reports of mined roads raise fears that movement could become even harder and supplies of goods could be reduced.

Mayor Dmytro Orlov did not predict whether Enerhodar could repeat Oleshky’s scenario. He noted that during the full‑scale war ways of conducting combat have changed significantly, in particular through the use of drones. According to him, Russian forces constantly improve their means of attack, and drone strikes threaten not only the military but also civilians.

Karolina Tereshchenko, Hlavkom