Trapped on death island: ‘Marooned’ Russian troops are starving to death and 5,000 have died after being cut off from other Russian forces in Ukraine
Thousands of Putin’s soldiers are stranded and starving to death on islands in the Dnipro River after being cut off from other Russian forces, Ukraine has claimed.
As many as 5,000 Russian troops are believed to have perished in the ‘death zone’ – a marshy islet south of Kherson.
Since Ukrainian forces liberated the southern city in November 2022, the river has formed a new front line.
Its right bank is held by Ukraine, while the low-lying, flood-prone left bank remains under Russian control.
Relentless drone flights, artillery clashes and night raids have turned the area into one of the war’s most perilous battlefields.
From elevated positions along the right bank, Ukrainian soldiers watch the marooned Russians from above, directing drone strikes and artillery fire onto the exposed islets.
The landscape offers little cover from aerial attacks – leaving Russian soldiers ‘nowhere to hide’ as they are picked off by Ukrainian strikes.
Ukrainian intelligence estimates that 5,100 Russians have died in the delta since January, with reports of soldiers starving to death due to a lack of supplies.
Russians attempt to escape the island by boat – but are seen by a Ukrainian drone operator
Chilling footage from the Dnipro delta shows Russian soldiers wrapping themselves in vegetation, trying to avoid detection as they try to flee the death zone in tiny dinghies
But, Ukrainian troops are tracking their every move. In many cases, they are taken out by Ukraine’s unblinking drones
‘The area is a death zone for Russia,’ Colonel Oleksandr Zavtonov of Ukraine’s 30th Marine Corps told The Telegraph. ‘There is nowhere to hide.’
‘The prisoners that our fighters recently took on the islands talked about the inability to deliver food and drinking water to them’, Colonel Zavtonov added.
‘They have to drink water from the river.’
Chilling footage from the Dnipro delta shows Russian soldiers wrapping themselves in vegetation, trying to avoid detection as they try to flee the death zone in tiny dinghies.
In many cases, they are taken out by Ukraine’s unblinking drones.
One clip shows a group of Russian soldiers squeezing into a small boat and pushing off from a marshy islet in the Dnipro delta.
Cloaked in makeshift camouflage made of reeds and mud, they lie low in the water, hoping the narrow channels will conceal their escape back towards Russian-occupied territory.
But, Ukrainian troops are tracking their every move. The soldiers hear the ominous buzz of a suicide drone before it swoops on the boat and detonates.
The soldiers hear the ominous buzz of a suicide drone before it swoops on the boat and detonate
The islands are low-lying and surrounded by open water, leaving troops visible and easy to target from the air or across the river
Pictured: A satellite image of Dnieper River Delta in Ukraine
Oksana Kuzan, head of the analytical department at the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre said: ‘Russian military units remaining on the islands in the Dnipro delta are facing serious problems with food, ammunition and rotations.’
She added that these small-group infiltration attempts, using camouflage and stealth, are a relatively new tactic not seen at the start of the war.
The islands allow small teams the chance to gather intelligence or establish radio links to extend drone operations.
Controlling the waterways also gives troops leverage over river crossings, small boat movements, and enemy resupply routes.
But the islands are low-lying and surrounded by open water, leaving troops visible and easy to target from the air or across the river.
