In brief: Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian occupation authorities are withholding humanitarian aid intended for civilians in Oleshky, keeping supplies in a warehouse instead of distributing them. Around 1,300 residents remain in the city, while 92 surrounding villages face serious humanitarian difficulties.
Around 1,300 civilians remain in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, where humanitarian aid brought into the city has allegedly been withheld from residents, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Speaking on an Ukrainska Pravda podcast, Prokudin said supplies delivered during the recent humanitarian operation had not reached those in need and were being kept in a warehouse.
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“None of the humanitarian aid that they supposedly brought in has reached the people,” Prokudin said.
“All this aid is currently being stored in one warehouse. And when people come, they are told: ‘This is not for you.’”
Prokudin suggested the supplies could instead be distributed to individuals with connections to Russian occupation authorities.
The allegations follow a humanitarian operation brokered with the involvement of First Lady Melania Trump, which facilitated civilian evacuations and aid deliveries under a temporary ceasefire that ended Nov. 1.
As Kyiv Post previously reported, local officials had already raised concerns that supplies delivered to Oleshky were not reaching residents. Some civilians who received assistance reportedly obtained less than a week’s worth of food.
Dozens of occupied villages face humanitarian crisis
Prokudin said the crisis extended well beyond Oleshky to settlements along the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
“We still have 34 villages in a critical situation, and 58 in a situation of medium severity,” he said, referring to communities within 20 kilometers of the riverbank.
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The settlements face severe shortages of electricity, gas, water and food deliveries.
Prokudin warned that describing the situation as one requiring rescue would understate the scale of the humanitarian emergency.
He said Ukrainian authorities had managed to deliver humanitarian assistance by drone, despite the difficulties of accessing Russian-occupied territory.
According to Prokudin, American philanthropist Howard Buffett provided 10 metric tons of food for civilians living under occupation.
Other international donors, including the World Food Programme, declined to participate, he said, because they could not obtain confirmation that the assistance had reached its intended recipients.
Ukraine prepares another evacuation
The new figures and allegations come as Ukraine works to organize a second evacuation from Oleshky.
Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Tuesday that additional residents had requested evacuation after seeing the first humanitarian operation successfully bring civilians to safety.
As Kyiv Post reported, the next mission will require fresh agreements on security arrangements and humanitarian access.
The initial operation, supported by First Lady Melania Trump, enabled hundreds of civilians to leave Russian-occupied territory.
However, Ukrainian officials have also raised concerns that Russian forces used the ceasefire to reinforce military positions and move equipment closer to the front.
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