H.E. Mr. Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affaires of Ukraine on the situation in Oleshky: Russia is deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied part of the Kherson region. It is blocking access to food and medicine, obstructing humanitarian access and the evacuation of civilians, while Russian FPV drones hunt people in the streets.

The situation in Oleshky is particularly dire. Of a pre-war population of around 24,000, only about 2,000 people remain, including around 50 children. There is no electricity or gas. Food, medicine, and other essentials have been blocked for the past month. Horrifying reports indicate that people are searching for scraps of food and gathering grass to survive.

Ukraine is seeking an organised evacuation, the ICRC has confirmed its readiness to participate, and international humanitarian organisations stand ready to deliver life-saving assistance. The only obstacle is Russia. 

Russia is deliberately preventing these efforts from reaching people who desperately need them, turning humanitarian access itself into an instrument of pressure.

In New York during UNGA High-Level Week, we will work to mobilise international pressure to secure humanitarian access, a humanitarian corridor, and the safe evacuation of civilians. I will also discuss these efforts with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.

The international community must use its collective voice to break Russia’s humanitarian blockade, secure immediate and unhindered access for humanitarian organisations, and enable the safe evacuation of civilians. Moscow must not be allowed to turn occupation and isolation into a means of starving, terrorising, and trapping people beyond the reach of international assistance.

What is happening in Oleshky and other occupied communities of the Kherson region is the result of deliberate Russian actions, and Russia must bear full responsibility for creating this humanitarian catastrophe and for its consequences. We will not allow these crimes to remain hidden behind the frontline and Russia’s refusal to grant access to the occupied territories.