As international pressure grows on Ukraine to consider territorial concessions in exchange for peace, the administrator of a city under Russian occupation is urging negotiators to look at the reality on the ground. Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky city military administration in the southern Kherson region, says that more than four years of Russian control have left the city in ruins and its remaining residents facing a daily struggle for survival.
Oleshky has been occupied since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Hasanenko told Euronews that the city is "practically destroyed," with almost every building damaged. An estimated 2,000 people remain, including 35 children who are effectively trapped and unable to leave.
Residents face acute shortages of food and drinking water, while electricity, gas, and medical care are extremely limited. The situation has become so dire that some people are forced to eat weeds, and many survive on a single meal a day, often just a few spoonfuls of grain.
A warning against concessions
Hasanenko directly linked the suffering in Oleshky to the broader debate about whether Ukraine should surrender territory to end the war. "You cannot make concessions to a beast," she said. "You know what happens when a predator gets a taste of blood - it only wants more."
She noted that the conflict with Russia has lasted twelve years, and no concessions have ever produced lasting peace. "A predator always wants more and more, and in this case Russia is that predator."
Her comments come as ceasefire efforts have repeatedly faltered, with Russian strikes continuing despite announced truces.
The 'road of death'
For those attempting to escape Oleshky, the journey itself is life-threatening. Hasanenko described a 25-kilometre route towards the village of Radianske, which is heavily mined and exposed to drone attacks. Many who attempt it are already weakened by hunger.
"People are exhausted by hunger, physically exhausted by the conditions they are living in. But there is simply no other way," she said. Some who manage to leave later return, carrying food to children or elderly relatives who cannot make the trek themselves.
Hasanenko said people have been killed by mines on this route, and their bodies often remain unrecovered. "This road really is a road of death," she said. "If bodies are lying there, nobody removes them."
Food as a weapon
Getting food into Oleshky has become increasingly dangerous. Hasanenko said that around 10 tonnes of food were delivered in September and October with help from the Ukrainian military, but she accused Russian forces of firing on some deliveries and punishing residents who received them on suspicion of cooperating with Ukraine.
She also alleged that Russian soldiers have entered homes and demanded food from residents despite the shortages. "There is no bread, no meat, no eggs, no sugar, there is basically nothing," she said.
Euronews cannot independently verify conditions inside Oleshky, as there is no independent media access to the city.
Symbols of suffering
Hasanenko described Oleshky as potentially becoming one of the "terrible symbols" of Russia's war against Ukraine. "We are living in the 21st century and people are suffering from hunger," she said.
She recounted a recent message from a woman in Oleshky who had received a loaf of bread from the Ukrainian side. "For 20 minutes she could not bring herself to taste it, that is how unfamiliar the taste of bread had become, and how precious bread is to the people who remain there today," Hasanenko said.
Residents are forced to survive on a single meal a day, sometimes only a few spoonfuls of grain, while others grind leftover pasta into flour to stretch their supplies. "The worst situation, of course, is for the children," she said. "I think this will remain in their memories forever."
Defiance and hope
Despite the conditions, Hasanenko said residents under occupation continue to contact Ukrainian officials, even at great personal risk. On Ukrainian national holidays, including Independence Day, she receives messages from occupied territories with blue-and-yellow flags.
Those sending them know the risks, as even having a Ukrainian SIM card can put residents in danger. "But people still take that risk. And they still believe," she said. "They write to me: 'We are still waiting for you.'"
It is that faith, Hasanenko said, that makes the idea of giving up occupied territory impossible for her. "The people with the greatest faith are those who are now in the temporarily occupied territories, waiting for us," she said. "For the sake of that faith, we have to do everything we can."
