U.N. says civilians in occupied Kherson are being cut off from food, medical care amid drone attacks and mines

U.N. human rights monitors warned Thursday that thousands of civilians in Russian-occupied frontline communities in southern Ukraine are becoming increasingly cut off from food, medical care and evacuation routes as drone attacks and landmines make both escape and aid deliveries more difficult.

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, or HRMMU — the U.N. mission deployed in 2014 to document civilian harm and rights violations — said the crisis is centered on the occupied parts of the Kherson region, especially Oleshky and Hola Prystan. Citing Ukrainian authorities’ estimates, the mission said up to 6,000 civilians, including more than 180 children, remain in those communities. HRMMU said it recently interviewed more than 20 residents from frontline communities in occupied Kherson.

Conditions described by residents have sharply deteriorated. HRMMU said the last grocery store in Oleshky stopped regular operations in January 2026, and that as of June 24 there had been no food deliveries to the town since May 26. Ambulances had stopped visiting homes, it said, with medical assistance limited to the most urgent cases.

Hospital access has become one of the clearest signs of the worsening crisis. As of June 24, four injured civilians in Oleshky hospital needed to be transferred to Skadovsk for further treatment but could not be evacuated, HRMMU said. The mission added that one patient recently died while waiting to be transferred.

“Frequent attacks by short-range drones and the presence of landmines are having devastating consequences for thousands of people in these communities. People can’t get out, food can’t get in, and sick and injured are not getting the medical assistance they need,” Danielle Bell, head of HRMMU, said in the June 25 press release.

HRMMU said it has recorded reports that at least 29 civilians were killed and 54 injured in Oleshky and Hola Prystan in 2026 alone, with many of those casualties verified by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, of which the mission is part.

The mission cited several incidents to illustrate the danger facing civilians. On March 5, it said, a drone killed two civilians and injured others as they waited in line for food in Oleshky. On June 2, a civilian vehicle convoy delivering food and humanitarian aid to Oleshky hit a landmine at the entrance to the city, killing one man and injuring three others.

HRMMU has separately identified short-range first-person-view, or FPV, drones as a growing source of civilian casualties in frontline areas of Ukraine. In occupied Kherson, it said, the combination of frequent drone attacks and mined roads has also crippled evacuation efforts.

According to the mission, volunteers helped about 180 people leave over several months through improvised arrangements. The largest single volunteer evacuation was 32 people from Oleshky during a three-day easing in hostilities from May 9 to 11. HRMMU said talks between Ukraine and Russia on a possible local ceasefire have taken place, but no agreement has been reached.

“There is a desperate need for a local ceasefire so that people can leave and food and medicines can reach those who decide to stay,” Bell said.

HRMMU said that under international law, an occupying power must ensure food and medical supplies for civilians and facilitate humanitarian relief when needed. At the same time, the mission said it has not been able to conclusively establish responsibility in individual attacks in these frontline areas.