Ukraine war latest: Ukraine condemns 'alarming' situation in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast as civilians remain trapped without aid

Prefer on Google by The Kyiv Independent news desk The Kherson Oblast sign is seen on Nov. 13, 2022, after Russia's retreat from Kherson. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Metin Aktas / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Key developments on May 7: Ukraine's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on May 6 condemning the "severe humanitarian crisis" in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast that it said was caused by Russia's violation of international humanitarian law. The most dire situation, according to civilians and volunteers, is in the occupied front-line city of Oleshky , where roughly 2,000 civilians are trapped with no safe evacuation options, limited food, no drinking water, and no other utilities. Residents live amid a Russian military presence and frequent strikes by both Russian and Ukrainian forces. "If the situation doesn't improve, people will just die there from hunger. Because there's no way out, no food supplies coming in," an Oleshky resident who escaped Russian occupation in early April 2026 told the Kyiv Independent. The Foreign Ministry said that Russian forces are blocking evacuations of Ukrainian civilians trapped in the area near Oleshky and obstructing the delivery of goods, food, and medicine. The situation is "particularly alarming," and there is an "urgent need for humanitarian aid" in the settlements of Oleshky, Hola Prystan, Stara Zburivka, and Nova Zburivka in Kherson Oblast, where "basic living conditions are entirely nonexistent," the ministry said. "Critical infrastructure is destroyed; there is no electricity or gas. Residents attempting to buy food or flee in private vehicles are being targeted by Russian drone attacks," the statement said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 7 that Ukraine would respond to Russia's repeated ceasefire violations with "long-range sanctions," referring to Ukrainian long-range strikes deep inside Russia. Russia announced a ceasefire for May 8-9 ahead of its annual Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. Ukraine responded by proposing its own ceasefire starting at midnight on May 6. Zelensky later said Russia violated the Ukrainian-proposed ceasefire 1,820 times by the morning of May 6, only hours after it took effect. In the statement, Zelensky said Russia continued attacking Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin of caring only about "a few hours of silence" in Moscow during the celebrations while continuing to kill Ukrainian civilians. "Russia continues to kill people and is completely inadequately concerned only about a few hours of silence in one part of Moscow," the president said. Zelensky added that Ukraine "doesn't recommend" that foreign representatives attend the May 9 parade in Moscow. According to the Ukrainian president, some Russia-friendly countries reached out to Ukraine about their officials' plans to attend the May 9 parade in Moscow. "An odd desire… these days. We don't recommend it," he added. A massive forest fire caused by Russian attacks is burning across northern Chernihiv Oblast near the Russian border, with firefighters unable to fully extinguish the blaze because of the constant threat from first-person view (FPV) drones, Ukraine's Northern Forest Office said on May 7. The fire, which has burned about 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres), has been designated as an "emergency situation," Daryna Tatarenko, a communications officer for the Northern Forest Office, a branch of the state forestry service "Forests of Ukraine," told the Kyiv Independent. Emergency crews and forestry workers cannot access the area because it lies within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) border zone where Russian FPV drones are constantly operating, a State Emergency Service spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent. Tatarenko said forestry workers are currently unable to assess whether the area has suffered repeated Russian attacks because they do not have full access to the territory. "We cannot reduce the area already affected, but we are trying to prevent the fire from spreading further," she said. Several drones entered Latvian airspace from Russia early on May 7, with one of them crashing near an oil storage facility in the eastern city of Rezekne near the Russian border, Latvia's National Armed Forces (NBS) reported. One drone may have crashed at the oil facility, while authorities are still searching for the second, Deputy Police Chief Andris Zellis told Latvian Television, according to the Latvian news outlet Delfi. Officials have not yet confirmed what type of drones entered Latvian airspace or who launched them. Latvian officials said  on May 7 that the drones were not shot down because authorities could not guarantee the safety of civilians and infrastructure, and that more details would become clear after the investigation is completed. "The aircraft were identified on radar, but they could not be shot down because there was no certainty that civilians or infrastructure would not be harmed," Egils Lescinskis, deputy chief of operations at Latvia's Joint Staff, said at a press conference in Rezekne. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds said several criteria must be met before authorities can decide to shoot down a drone, especially in populated areas.