SBU uncovers Russian plan for disinformation campaign targeting Oleshky

Investigators revealed that Russian soldiers from a local occupational unit were tasked with organizing a series of staged, “compromising” interviews with residents of the occupied city.

According to the SBU, the participants in these scripted videos would be forced to accuse the Ukrainian Defense Forces of regularly shelling and blockading the city, discredit the decisions of Ukraine's leadership, and express gratitude to the Russian occupying troops.

The SBU warned that the Kremlin plans to execute this influence operation between October and early November.

The SBU urged Ukrainian media and citizens to:

• Maintain a critical eye toward any “sensational” information the emerges
• Avoid trusting publications from hostile or pro-Russian Telegram channels
• Refrain from disseminating unverified information
• Rely exclusively on information from official sources

Ukrainian forces used drones to deliver a second shipment of humanitarian aid to occupied Oleshky on Oct. 4, flying in nearly four tons of food, medicine, and baby supplies.

Humanitarian disaster in Oleshky

German newspaper Bild reported on September 16 that Oleshky was under a humanitarian blockade. Residents said they had survived the summer on vegetables from their gardens, but with the season ending, they now face the threat of starvation.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on September 16 that Russia had for a long time failed to confirm its readiness to evacuate civilians from Oleshky, despite previous agreements and established procedures for the mission.

The city military administration said food was last delivered to the Russian-occupied city on May 26. There have been cases in which residents had to eat dogs.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on September 20 that Ukraine would raise the situation in Oleshky and other occupied communities in Kherson Oblast at the U.N. General Assembly.

Sybiha called on international organizations to mobilize resources to deliver aid to Oleshky on September 26.

Reports emerged on September 29 that Ukrainian forces had delivered 4,000 kilograms of food to residents of occupied Oleshky using drones, dropping supplies at 100 different locations across the city.