Ukrainian forces have flown nearly four metric tons of humanitarian aid by drone across the Dnipro River into Russian-occupied Oleshky, in one of the most unusual relief operations of the war. The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on Sunday, October 4, that National Guard service members working alongside other defence units dropped approximately 400 specialised parcels on the cut-off city in the Kherson region, delivering staple food, essential medication and child-care packages to civilians who have been beyond the reach of authorised aid convoys for months.
A second airlift across the river
The cross-river flight was the second large-scale aerial delivery into the enclave, following a first mission in late September in which Ukrainian heavy drones deposited food supplies. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi praised the crews involved, thanking everyone who took part in "delivering, providing cover, ensuring engineering support, and managing logistics." He gave special commendation to the crew of the Perun UAV, who, he said, "not only delivered food but also rescued six animals from occupied territory" during the operation.
The drone route has become a lifeline because Oleshky has been cut off from authorised commercial freight and institutional humanitarian assistance since late May. Municipal officials and monitoring groups say residents have largely exhausted their household food reserves and now depend on home vegetable gardens, preserved stocks and local barter networks. Electricity, potable water and central gas heating networks have all suffered extensive damage, raising the stakes sharply as freezing winter temperatures approach.
Thousands trapped with no way out
Oleshky, on the east bank of the Dnipro, has been under Russian occupation since February 2022 and sits directly on the front line. The Ukrainian government estimates that about 2,000 people remain in the city, among them an estimated 200 children, down from a pre-war population of roughly 24,000. Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets has previously estimated that more than 6,000 non-combatants are trapped across the wider occupied river basin.
Former residents who escaped this year have described to Human Rights Watch a near-total collapse of public services: no electricity or gas, families heating homes with wood-burning stoves, and a district hospital running on emergency generator power with limited capacity. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has recorded at least 29 civilians killed and 54 injured in Oleshky and neighbouring Hola Prystan in 2026 alone, and monitors say there is still no organised, safe evacuation route out.
Brussels puts the obligation on Moscow
The humanitarian emergency prompted Kyiv to convene an urgent session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on October 1. A day later, EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, whose portfolio covers humanitarian aid, issued a blunt statement. "What is happening in Oleshky, Ukraine, is appalling. Civilians are trapped under siege by Russian forces without access to food, medicine, clean water and basic care. This is unacceptable," she said.
Lahbib stressed that EU humanitarian partners are ready to deliver but need "safe, sustained and effective humanitarian access on the ground," and reminded Moscow that "Russia, as occupying power, has clear obligations under international humanitarian law: civilians must be protected and humanitarian assistance must be facilitated." Ukraine's foreign ministry has said the International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed its willingness to take part in relief and evacuation efforts, but that access remains blocked by Russia.
The drone airlift is, by any measure, a stopgap: four tons of parcels cannot substitute for the road convoys and organised evacuations that international law requires the occupying power to permit. But for the families still sheltering in Oleshky — many of them elderly, many unable to leave — it is for now the only supply line that gets through. Until Moscow opens the road, Ukraine intends to keep flying over the river.
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