This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the ever-tightening control of information imposed by the Kremlin.
Key news as of Oct. 25:
- Oleshky native warns residents may not survive winter as evacuation hopes rise
- Russian-occupied Crimea imposes power and water restrictions after drone attack
- Russia sentences 77-year-old Crimean activist to 18 years over alleged plot against Moscow's proxy
- At least 34 Ukrainians were brought back from occupied territories, including over 20 children
- Russia intensifies pressure on occupied Ukrainians without Russian passports, military intelligence says
- Data center in occupied Donetsk destroyed following Ukraine's strikes
A woman who fled Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast has warned that residents remaining in the town may not survive the winter, as hopes grow for a possible evacuation mission.
Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the full-scale invasion. Residents face severe shortages of food, water, and electricity, while mined roads and constant drone attacks make safe evacuation virtually impossible.
"If the evacuation goes ahead, it will be a lifeline for those who remain. People won't survive the winter," a woman who left Oleshky in recent months told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 24. She declined to reveal her name for security reasons.
The woman pointed to severe food shortages and a lack of fuel for heating and cooking. She said residents had already burned much of the available wood during the previous winter, leaving few options to keep their homes warm as temperatures fall.
"There is almost no chance of survival," she added.
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump mediated a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in and around Oleshky to allow the safe evacuation of civilians and delivery of humanitarian aid, Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets confirmed on Oct. 23.
Under the agreement, a ceasefire will be implemented, humanitarian cargo will be delivered to Oleshky, and civilians will be allowed to leave the city freely, according to Lubinets.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 24 that Ukraine will fulfill its part of the "extremely difficult" humanitarian operation in Oleshky.
The move came amid increased attention to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the city, which over the past weeks has gained international attention, including from Pope Leo XIV.
Despite hoping the evacuation would proceed, the woman expressed concern that Russian authorities could prevent it from going ahead.
"I'd like to believe that this mission will go ahead, but you can expect anything from the Russian Federation," she said, adding that she believed civilians were being kept in the area as human shields.
Stefan Vorontsov, a volunteer coordinator with the NGO Humanity, which helps evacuate civilians from occupied territories, told the Kyiv Independent that while he hoped that people would be saved, he expects Russian provocations, blackmail, and propaganda surrounding those who manage to get out.
"God willing, we will be able to set a precedent where Russia admits what they did in the occupied territories, and we will be able to organize the first official evacuation from there, then maybe the rest of us will be able to do it too. But again, I have little faith," Vorontsov said.
In spring 2026, evacuation volunteers still managed to help Oleshky residents leave for other occupied settlements in Kherson Oblast or Ukraine-controlled areas in exhausting multi-day trips through Russia and Belarus. Now, they said, the risk of Russian attacks and mines has made organized evacuation impossible.
In recent months, some residents have started walking out of Oleshky to the neighboring village of Radensk alone or in pairs, on roads mined by Russian forces. At the end of September, four people were attempting to leave the town when they stepped on a mine and were injured, while a man collecting nuts was killed by another mine.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that around 2,000 people, including nearly 50 children, remained in the occupied town with severely limited access to food, drinking water, electricity, and other basic services.
Russian-occupied Crimea imposes power and water restrictions after drone attack
Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea introduced electricity and water restrictions on Oct. 24 following a reported Ukrainian drone attack on energy infrastructure outside the peninsula, the Russian proxy governor of occupied Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said.
The restrictions came after Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure in southern Russia on Oct. 23-24, including damage to the Taman substation in Krasnodar Krai, which supplies electricity to occupied Crimea.
Major cities, including Sevastopol and Yalta, were left without electricity following the hit on the key power station.
Aksyonov said repairs were underway while rolling power cuts were implemented.
In Sevastopol, Russian-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said on Oct. 25 that renewed strain on the power grid had prompted rolling blackouts on a "three hours on, three hours off" schedule.
Razvozhaev added that electricity supply to industrial sites and shopping centers will be restricted "as much as possible" to reduce the load on the grid.
"The capacity freed up must be channeled first and foremost to residential properties. This is our top priority," Razvozhaev said.
Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported on the evening of Oct. 23 that "the entire peninsula" was without electricity.
Crimea, which was occupied and illegally annexed by Russian forces in 2014, has been hit with widespread power outages before. This summer, Ukrainian forces reportedly hit 16 power stations across Crimea in 48 hours, in an effort to hinder Moscow in its war effort.
Russia sentences 77-year-old Crimean activist to 18 years over alleged plot against Moscow's proxy
A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don said on Oct. 22 it had sentenced 77-year-old Crimean political prisoner Volodymyr Ananiev to 18 years in prison over an alleged plot to assassinate Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian proxy governor.
"Volodymyr Ananiev is the oldest Crimean political prisoner. He suffers from vision problems and issues with his spine, muscles, kidneys, and legs, and walks with a cane," The NGO Crimean Tatar Resource Center said.
Ananiev was detained in the Russian-occupied city of Simferopol in February 2024. Russian investigators claimed Ananiev was part of a group that tracked Aksyonov's car and prepared an explosive device to blow it up.
Moscow has continued to repress Crimean Tatars and other residents, including journalists and activists, of the peninsula since its occupation in 2014. Around 300 people, including journalists and activists, were being held on politically motivated charges as of spring, more than 150 of them Crimean Tatars, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.
Read more about Ananiev here.
At least 34 Ukrainians brought back from occupied territories, including over 20 children
Over the past week, Ukraine brought back at least 34 citizens who were forced to stay in Russian-occupied territories, including 23 children, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and the presidential initiative Bring Kids Back UA said.
On Oct. 22, Lubinets said that 11 Ukrainian citizens returned to government-controlled territory. Some of those who returned faced additional challenges due to health conditions, the need for medical care, and difficulties arranging a safe way back.
Among them was a married couple whose return journey involved two attempts. The woman had previously managed to leave occupied territory, but returned after her husband became seriously ill and was admitted to intensive care. After his condition improved, she arranged for them to leave together.
Separately, Bring Kids Back UA announced on Oct. 19 that it brought home 23 more children from Russian-occupied territory.
Among the children returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory was 9-year-old Stefan, who was forced to undergo military training at a school under Russian occupation, including instruction in handling grenades and firearms, the statement said.
The Ukrainian ombudsman's office coordinates returns through the humanitarian route connecting Mokrany in Belarus with Domanove in Ukraine's northwestern Volyn Oblast. Lubinets said the office is effectively the only Ukrainian state institution systematically organizing returns from occupied territories through this route, assisting people who cannot leave independently.
The Volyn humanitarian corridor is the main working checkpoint between Ukraine and Belarus. There are currently no functioning checkpoints between Ukraine and Russia.
According to Lubinets, 24,953 people, including 2,054 children, returned to Ukraine through this humanitarian corridor between May 24, 2024, and Oct. 15, 2026. Of these, 11,815 people, including 802 children, returned in 2026 alone.
Russia intensifies pressure on occupied Ukrainians without Russian passports, military intelligence says
Russian security forces carried out a new round of raids across occupied Ukrainian territories in early October, targeting residents who have refused to obtain Russian passports, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on Oct. 22.
The raids were conducted jointly by the Russian police and the Federal Security Service (FSB) during the first 10 days of October as part of an operation dubbed "Illegal-2026," according to HUR.
Ukrainians without Russian passports are classified by occupation authorities as "foreign citizens" and subjected to Russian migration law.
According to the agency, residents can face pressure to obtain Russian citizenship, expulsion from occupied territory, dismissal from work, and property seizure.
Russia has pressured residents of occupied Ukrainian territories to take Russian passports since 2014, tying access to employment, social services, property rights, and other aspects of daily life to possession of Russian documents.
This is part of Moscow's long-running campaign of forced passportization. Russian President Vladimir Putin, on March 4, signed a decree that indefinitely extended the simplified process of obtaining Russian citizenship in the occupied territories.
"The goal of the decree is to passportize as many people as possible, pressuring them," Nataliia Yurlova, lawyer for the NGO Donbas SOS, told the Kyiv Independent.
Data center in occupied Donetsk destroyed following Ukraine's strikes
Ukraine's reported attack on a building in the occupied city of Donetsk, Donetsk Oblast, destroyed a data center on Oct. 20, according to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of the Occupation.
Andriushchenko told the Kyiv Independent that a data center used by Ugletelecom and Elecom, a major telecom operator in occupied Donetsk Oblast, was hit at Postysheva St. 60, according to his sources.
Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ reported that explosions were heard in Donetsk this morning and shared footage showing the damaged facade of the building on Postysheva St. 60.
The head of Russia's proxies in the city of Donetsk, Alexey Kulemzin, reported a Ukrainian attack on the city and shared video footage of the same damaged building on Telegram.
Russia and Ukraine have increasingly targeted each other’s data centers after a Russian attack damaged a Kyiv data center housing network equipment for internet provider UTELS, causing service disruptions on Sept. 23.