Key facts
- Two Russian military units, the 126th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade and the 331st Guards Parachute Regiment, have been identified as operating in the Oleshky area.
- Oleshky residents face severe shortages of food, water, and electricity, with approximately 2,000 people, including nearly 50 children, remaining in the city.
- Russian forces are reportedly using civilians as shields and preventing access for aid organizations.
- The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights raised concerns about the worsening humanitarian situation in Oleshky.
- Ukrainian forces delivered approximately four tons of food to Oleshky residents using drones.
Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info has identified two Russian military units whose personnel have been present in or around occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, and whose commanders may be linked to the humanitarian crisis in the city, the outlet reported on Sept. 29. Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the full-scale invasion, and residents face severe shortages of food, water, and electricity, with only a small number having evacuated. Around 2,000 people, including nearly 50 children, remain in the city. Russian troops occupy Oleshky and the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, using the area to launch attacks across the river. The first unit identified is the 126th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, currently deployed in the Kherson direction. The second unit is the 331st Guards Parachute Regiment of Russia's 98th Guards Airborne Division, also deployed in the Kherson direction. Russian forces have placed weapons and mines in residential neighborhoods, using the presence of civilians to shield their positions from Ukrainian strikes, according to Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration. Russian forces are also preventing Ukraine and international humanitarian organizations from accessing the occupied territories. On Sept. 25, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, raised concerns about the worsening humanitarian situation. On Sept. 27, Ukrainian forces delivered approximately four tons of food to Oleshky residents using drones.