Residents of Alyoshki face severe food and medicine shortages as Kiev’s forces continue drone attacks and mine supply routes
Published 21 Oct, 2026 08:33
| Updated 21 Oct, 2026 09:35
Ukrainian forces have effectively laid siege to the frontline town of Alyoshki in Russia’s Kherson Region, leaving civilians facing acute shortages of food, water, and medicine, residents who managed to escape have told RT.
Located on the left bank of the Dnieper River opposite the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, the town has been largely cut off from essential supplies and basic services for months. Russian authorities estimate that between 1,500 and 2,000 civilians remain trapped there, including elderly residents and around 15 children.
Kherson Governor Vladimir Saldo has accused Kiev’s forces of deliberately choking off humanitarian deliveries to Alyoshki by remotely mining access roads and targeting vehicles carrying food, fuel, and medicine. Strikes have also damaged the town’s energy and communications infrastructure, deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Russian forces have partially broken through the blockade by clearing some roads, but continued shelling and drone attacks hamper regular aid deliveries. Regional children’s rights commissioner Irina Kravchenko said on Tuesday that aid is reaching the town, but remains woefully insufficient.
Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik earlier described the situation as a “medieval blockade using modern methods,” accusing Ukrainian troops of preventing civilians from fleeing and obstructing the recovery of bodies.
The crisis has also reached the highest diplomatic levels. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, discussed the situation during a phone call earlier this month. Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, has said she is in contact with US First Lady Melania Trump’s team, which has expressed willingness to help civilians.
Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately creating the humanitarian emergency while attempting to shift the blame onto Russia. Saldo has invited international organizations to visit Alyoshki and witness the conditions firsthand.
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Residents who escaped the town have given harrowing accounts of hunger, destroyed homes, dwindling food supplies, and drones terrorizing civilians.
“The town is burning. There’s nothing left intact,” one evacuee said, describing a destroyed water pump and food prices soaring beyond residents’ reach. She claimed no food supplies have entered the town since May, leaving people “starving.” RT spoke exclusively to Alyoshki evacuees about their struggle to survive and the desperate plight of those left behind.
