For months, desperate civilians remaining in the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky have been blockaded inside, as Russia severed food and medicine supplies to the city amid constant shelling, food shop closures, and reports of looting; many of the city's elderly and less mobile residents have been forced

A ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Russian occupied city began as Russian forces launched ballistic missiles at other parts of Ukraine.

Ukraine used strike drones in an attack that took several hours near the city of Khrustalnyi, according to Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova Plus.

"The worst thing would be if the whole world came to believe that everyone had been evacuated from Oleshky, whilst (people) were still there. And (they) would simply be forgotten," evacuation volunteer Kseniia Arkhipova said.

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

According to satellite imagery from NASA FIRMS, the Taman substation in Russia's Krasnodar Krai — a key energy node supplying electricity to Crimea —was damaged in an overnight attack.

Ukrainians without Russian passports are classified by Russian occupation authorities as "foreign citizens" and subjected to Russian migration law, HUR said.

According to the SBU, Sharlai heads the department responsible for religious organizations within Russia's occupation administration in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He also served as Russian President Vladimir Putin's trusted representative in occupied Melitopol during Russia's 2024 presidential election.