To stay or risk the 'Road of Death' - Ukrainian civilians trapped in frontline city

There is also what seems to be a large scorch mark on the road between Kardashynka and Hola Prystan' which first appeared sometime in late January.

Verified footage from the same period shows a badly damaged vehicle which appears to have veered off the road; possibly corresponding to claims that vehicles, such as ambulances, have been blown up or strayed onto mines.

Similar scenes are replicated along the E97 road to the east of the city, although satellite imagery suggests the damage there dates back much further.

Small trench networks are visible at intersections on approaches to the city, indicating the area is militarized, but these have also been in place for many months.

The BBC has been in contact with seven people who tell us they are either still in Oleshky or recently evacuated.

The accounts we have gathered are through phone calls or messaging apps as well as questions sent through a Ukrainian official who has remained in touch with residents.

We have not been to fully verify each account but where possible, we have sought to corroborate stories through photos, location data and online records. Ludmilla's own home was destroyed, she says, when the Kakhovka Dam further up the Dnipro river was blown up under Russian occupation in June 2023, causing catastrophic flooding.

"I'm in someone else's house, which is also burned."

She won't move because there's no point, she explains, as the destruction is still going on everywhere.

Trees hit by shelling, we're told, are at least easier to break down for firewood.

Inside the city, Russian soldiers are believed to be holed up in buildings, hiding from roving Ukrainian drones.

"They sit in basements," says Ludmilla. "We don't see them but they're there."

We have heard claims that bodies can lie uncollected for days or, in the case of Russian soldiers, abandoned altogether by the military to rot.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, says he has appealed to Russian authorities for a "humanitarian corridor" to allow safe evacuations.

Lubinets accuses Russia of inflicting "deliberate terrorism" against civilians.

Ukrainian officials claim that both civilians and Russian soldiers, stationed in the city, have been left to their fate by the occupying authorities.

However, Russia's Embassy in London told the BBC that the "humanitarian difficulties" were because of "systematic strikes" by Ukrainian forces on the city.

The Russian-appointed governor of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, has accused Ukraine of destroying the city's schools and kindergartens - according to the Embassy.

But in his posts on the Telegram messaging app in April, Saldo does not appear to specifically mention the humanitarian situation at all.

The International Red Cross (ICRC) has said it is talking to authorities on both sides as it seeks further information about the situation in Oleshky.

It is difficult to assess the degree to which Russian troops, or Ukrainian drones, have left mines that have ended up posing a risk to civilians.

One Ukrainian soldier told the BBC that Ukraine had used mines to prevent Russia from delivering weapons to its fighters positioned inside the city.

But he claimed Ukrainian forces keep volunteers informed about safe routes while he accused Russia of "scattering" such explosives.

Some residents say they would like to leave, but that is not necessarily the case for everyone.

Elderly Ukrainians in front-line towns can be particularly reluctant to swap their homes for an unknown future.

Another resident called Hanna described recently seeing a drone hovering right above a woman aged about 90.

"She just looked up, waved her hand as if to say: 'Come what may' and hobbled on."

Additional reporting by Aakriti Thapar, Anastasiia Levchenko, Mariana Matveichuk and Volodymyr Lozhko.