Donetsk Oblast: News

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The situation in Russian-occupied Oleshky was dire. Now it's 'hell'

Residents in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast face an escalating humanitarian crisis, as constant Russian drone attacks and artillery shelling have made it impossible to deliver essential food and medicine supplies or evacuate civilians by road. "These people need to be saved," Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said on Sept. 16, adding that residents are desperate to escape "from this hell." "People are driven to despair and are simply walking along mined roads (to e

The aerial view of Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine in a photo published on Sept.16, 2026.

About Donetsk Oblast

The Kyiv Independent's news and on-the-ground reporting from Donetsk Oblast, covering 26,517 square kilometers (10,239 square miles) in Ukraine’s East with a pre-war population of approximately 4.1 million. The administrative center is Kramatorsk, as Donetsk city has remained under Russian occupation since 2014. Donetsk Oblast has been the scene of intense fighting, for example, around the cities of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Vuhledar, as Moscow attempts to capture the entire region.

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