Click to expand Image The Antonovsky bridge destroyed by the Russian army with explosives in its retreat of Kherson, Ukraine, November 16, 2022. © 2022 Celestino Arce Lavin/ZUMA via Reuters (Berlin, July 9, 2026) – Civilians trapped in front-line areas of the Russian-occupied Khersonska region in southern Ukraine face dire humanitarian conditions and have no safe way to leave, Human Rights Watch said today. Civilians who wish to evacuate should be allowed to do so safely.Residents who escaped the city of Oleshky, on the east bank of the Dnipro River, described severe shortages of food and medical care, and the collapse of basic services. They experienced unpredictable procedures at Russian checkpoints and the risk of death or serious injury from ongoing hostilities and landmines while moving around or attempting to leave. Antipersonnel mines, which both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used during the conflict, pose a particularly grave and lasting danger to civilians.“Civilians trapped in parts of the occupied Khersonska region are surviving in hellish conditions,” said Yulia Gorbunova, associate director for Ukraine at Human Rights Watch. “Many have managed to escape, but among those who remain are more who want to flee, if evacuation were not such a life-threatening gamble.”Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since February 2022 and is currently on the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have been conducting attacks in the area, and Oleshky has been subjected to sustained attacks by Ukrainian forces.Human Rights Watch interviewed six residents who escaped Oleshky between October 2025 and May 2026, some of whom remained in contact with people still in the city, as well as a Kherson-based journalist, and reviewed media reports and official statements.Other occupied parts of Khersonska region where conditions have been reported as dire for civilians include Hola Prystan, Stara Zburivka, and Nova Zburivka.According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, civilian security in Oleshky and Hola Prystan deteriorated significantly in 2025 and 2026. In 2026 alone, the mission recorded reports of at least 29 civilians killed and 54 injured across both cities.Oleshky had about 24,000 residents before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine but now has an estimated population of about 2,000, according to the Ukrainian government. Those remaining include older people, people unable to leave, and an estimated 200 children. To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, neither Russian occupation authorities, international humanitarian organizations, nor other intermediaries currently operate an organized evacuation system for older people, people with disabilities, wounded or sick civilians, or others at heightened risk.Former Oleshky residents described the near-total collapse of public utilities. They said there was no electricity or gas, and that many people were forced to rely on wood-burning stoves with trees for firewood. Those with diesel generators faced increasingly expensive and scarce fuel. Some had installed solar panels to pump water and keep refrigerators running.Residents said that since the beginning of 2026, commercial deliveries of basic goods to some occupied areas had become rare and unpredictable. When sellers reached Oleshky, residents said, crowds quickly took what was available. The daughter of an 84-year-old woman who fled Oleshky in May said older residents “are unable to compete with the crowd.” “When I saw my mother, she was so thin,” the daughter said. “There was nothing out there; people were starving.”Another woman, who hid in her home for four months before escaping in May, said: “In my neighborhood, everything is scorched, burned out. We were afraid to venture outside just to get water.”Residents said local medical care was barely functioning. The Oleshky District Hospital operates on emergency generator power, with limited capacity. One man said he witnessed the death of a 65-year-old neighbor who stepped on a mine: “It severed his artery,” he said. “While we were trying to tie a tourniquet around his leg, Russian [soldiers] gave him a painkiller. The ambulance couldn’t reach us. We had nowhere to carry him…. Drones were [hovering overhead]. Two hours later, he died from blood loss.”Human Rights Watch could not determine whether humanitarian organizations had regular access to Oleshky or surrounding villages. Both warring parties are obligated under international humanitarian law to facilitate access for humanitarian assistance to civilians.Russia, as the occupying power, has an obligation to ensure that civilians in occupied territory have access to food, medical care, and other goods and services essential for survival.All former Oleshky residents interviewed described intensifying danger from attacks and landmines. They said drones were “constantly hovering” overhead and that mines were scattered throughout the city and along roads.Human Rights Watch has not determined responsibility for specific drone attacks or for the emplacement of particular mines in and around Oleshky. Human Rights Watch found credible indications that Ukrainian forces may have used drones and mines on roads in and around Oleshky, but has not determined the scale, the precise circumstances of the incidents, or responsibility for specific attacks or particular mines. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used drones and mines in the broader area during the war. Landmines, including antipersonnel mines, pose a grave and lasting threat to civilians and can make evacuation routes deadly.Former residents said there was no organized, safe evacuation route for civilians. Those who left since March said that leaving Oleshky required passing through Russian military checkpoints, including in Hola Prystan and Hladkivka, where passage was subject to the discretion of Russian forces.“Everything is at your own risk, you just take your life in your hands [if you want to flee],” said a resident who escaped in March.Warring parties are obligated under international humanitarian law to take all feasible steps to allow the civilian population to evacuate safely, if they choose.Fear, damaged telecommunications, and lack of electricity make it difficult for residents to get information, including about possible evacuation routes. Many are also afraid to use mobile phones because Russian soldiers routinely check them at checkpoints.Leaving occupied areas often requires residents to travel through Belarus before crossing into government-controlled Ukraine. Ukrainian civilians holding Russian internal passports can enter Belarus but reportedly need Russian international travel passports to leave Belarus and continue to government-controlled Ukraine. All residents interviewed said that they had to conceal their Ukrainian passports when traveling.Men face additional risks because obtaining Russian documents may expose them to forced conscription into Russian forces. Compelling civilians in occupied territory to serve in the forces of a hostile power violates international humanitarian law and is a war crime.One resident who fled Oleshky in March described applying for a Russian passport as a trap: “They immediately send you to the military enlistment office. And then you risk mobilization [into the Russian army].”Some residents said relatives and neighbors remained because they lacked the money to travel, feared they would have nowhere to go, or believed Ukrainian state support for internally displaced people would be insufficient.Russia and Ukraine have been in discussions over a potential pause in hostilities to enable civilians to evacuate. Both parties should abide by their obligations under international law and provide safe and voluntary passage for civilians who want to leave areas affected by hostilities. Russian occupation authorities should not arbitrarily prevent civilians from leaving, nor condition their departure on acquiring a Russian passport or other documents, or put Ukrainians at risk of forced conscription.Both Russian and Ukrainian forces should immediately cease using antipersonnel mines and other victim-activated explosive devices and take all feasible measures to protect civilians from mines and explosive remnants of war, including by issuing effective warnings, sharing information about contaminated areas, and providing mine-risk education.“Civilians in the occupied Khersonska region should be allowed to leave safely if they wish to do so,” Gorbunova said. “Those who remain should have access to humanitarian assistance, including the food, medicine, and basic services they need to survive.”