Humanitarian blockade of Oleshky: Sybiha called on UN and Red Cross to intervene immediately and save people
The temporarily occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region is on the brink of starvation: the civilian population, including children, is forced to survive without food, water, or medicine.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga announced this on his Telegram channel, according to Censor.NET.
A terrible humanitarian crisis in occupied Oleshky
He noted that people in the temporarily occupied Oleshky are starving. There is almost nothing left to eat. According to reports, civilians are forced to survive by eating grass and weeds, while medicine, clean water, electricity, and medical care are becoming increasingly unavailable.
"Children have also found themselves in these circumstances. This suffering has a clear cause and a clear culprit. Russia caused this disaster in Oleshky through its illegal occupation and bears full responsibility for this humanitarian catastrophe, all of its consequences, and the deaths of innocent civilians," the minister emphasizes.
According to him, the international community must mobilize all available tools to reach the people in Oleshky, deliver humanitarian aid, and ensure the safe evacuation of those who wish to leave. The UN, the ICRC, and other international actors must use their mandates and channels to ensure immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access.
"I would like to thank Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty for drawing international attention to the situation in Oleshky. Now this attention must be backed up by action. The people there cannot survive on statements of concern alone. Humanitarian access and safe evacuation must become a reality, because every day counts," Sybiha concludes.
Humanitarian crisis in Oleshky
- In late March 2026, Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada’s Human Rights Commissioner, appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Russian side regarding the humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region.
- It is known that about 2,000 civilians remain cut off from the outside world in the occupied town of Oleshky.
- The Regional Military Administration also reported that the bodies of the deceased have remained unburied for weeks, and that the logistics infrastructure has been completely destroyed—the occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region is under a complete humanitarian blockade.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to obtain information about the situation in the occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region.
- Ombudsman Lubinets stated that residents of Oleshky are being prepared for evacuation.
- The UN stated that Russia has not provided humanitarian access to Oleshky and Hola Prystan.
