Church council urges Pope to help save occupied Oleshky from starvation
Ukraine's Council of Churches warns of a critical humanitarian situation in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson region, where over 6,000 residents, including about 200 children, may remain without adequate food, water or medicine.
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has reported a critical humanitarian situation in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson region. According to various estimates, more than 6,000 people may still remain there, including around 200 children.
The council states that the last food deliveries to Oleshky took place in late May 2026. Since then, residents have lacked sufficient food, drinking water, medicine and other essential aid.
Blocked departures and constant danger
According to the organization, Russian forces are preventing people from leaving the city. Because Oleshky lies near the front line, civilians who remain there are under constant threat of shelling and drone attacks. The city's critical infrastructure has effectively been destroyed, with no electricity or gas supply.
The council recalled that in 2023 Oleshky also suffered severe flooding after Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.
The statement describes the city as being under humanitarian blockade and on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Appeal to the international community
The Council of Churches has appealed to Pope Leo XIV, the World Council of Churches, the World Evangelical Alliance and other religious leaders and human rights organizations to use every available means to prevent people from starving to death. It also called on UN member states and the International Committee of the Red Cross to support a humanitarian mission and the evacuation of Oleshky residents to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The organization emphasized that the Ukrainian side has repeatedly raised the critical situation in the city with international organizations and has tried to negotiate the evacuation of residents. Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, had earlier said that Russia has long failed to confirm readiness to organize a humanitarian evacuation mission for civilians from Oleshky.
