Ukraine Carrying Out Airdrops of Food Via Drone to City Besieged by Russian Forces, Official Says

Ukraine’s military has for months been using drones to deliver food to a city facing a humanitarian crisis amid its continued occupation by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials have said. The city of Oleshky in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region is in a dire humanitarian situation, with Ukrainian authorities saying that remaining residents have been forced to eat dogs and weeds as Russian forces prevent them from leaving and block supplies from entering the city. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. An abundance of anti-personnel mines on the ground and drones in the sky make any escape attempt risky, but some are nonetheless making that journey, according to reports. Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on social media on Sunday that, since March, Ukraine’s defense forces have been carrying out airdrops to deliver food across the city via drone, with the most recent such operation being carried out on Saturday night. Prokudin said: “In Oleshky, the Russians are holding around 2,000 of our people hostage. Among them are nearly 50 children. They are forced to survive without food, electricity or water. “Most horrifyingly, the Russians have effectively deprived them of the opportunity to leave this hell,” he added. 🇺🇦 Last night, Ukraine’s Defence Forces delivered food to residents of occupied Oleshky to save people from hunger.Using drones, they dropped around 4 tonnes of food at 100 locations across the city.We will continue doing everything we can to support the residents of Oleshky. pic.twitter.com/78Ki8BbpvY— Oleksandr Prokudin (@Prokudin__) September 27, 2026 The governor of Kherson also said that Russian forces detained and “brutally” beat several people who went to collect food delivered by Ukraine’s military, adding that occupying Russian forces have taken some of the supplies for themselves. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine’s New Zealander Supporter Is Back, Risking Danger, with More Aid Tenby Powell speaks with Kyiv Post’s Chief Editor Bohdan Nahaylo about his ongoing activities, braving the constant Russian attacks. Moscow has long denied that it targets civilians in its ongoing war in Ukraine, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov blaming Kyiv for the lack of supplies in Oleshky, which had a population of around 24,000 people before the war. Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that were unilaterally annexed by Moscow after sham referendums in September 2022, despite Russia lacking full military control of the areas following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February that year. The Russification of the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia in 2022 – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – has been a key strategic goal for the Kremlin since the beginning of the war. Kremlin-backed occupation authorities have pressured Ukrainian nationals in the regions to take up Russian citizenship, reportedly making it a condition for access to basic services such as healthcare and education, and have long been accused of conscripting Ukrainian residents into the Russian armed forces. TVP World is Poland's first English-language channel where you can find our guest interviews, world news from the Polish perspective and the latest news from the CEE region.