Ukrainian churches appeal to Pope Leo XIV over humanitarian crisis in occupied Oleshky

Why it matters

Thousands of civilians, including children, are reported to be facing starvation in an occupied city only about 4 km from Ukrainian-controlled Kherson yet cut off by Russian forces. The churches' appeal to Pope Leo XIV adds religious and moral pressure to the diplomatic push, while Ukraine's plan to raise the issue at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week puts it on the international agenda. The crisis exposes the limits of existing humanitarian access: the ICRC has reportedly confirmed readiness to evacuate, but Russia has not agreed.

What happened

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations issued an appeal over a critical humanitarian situation in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, addressing it to Pope Leo XIV, the World Council of Churches, the World Evangelical Alliance, other religious leaders and human rights organizations, and calling on UN member states and the International Committee of the Red Cross to enable a humanitarian mission and evacuation of residents to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

According to the Council and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the last food deliveries to Oleshky were at the end of May 2026. Residents are reported to lack sufficient food, drinking water, medicines and other assistance; the city's critical infrastructure is effectively destroyed, with no electricity or gas supply. Russian military forces are preventing civilians from leaving, and Oleshky lies near the front line, exposing residents to shelling and drone attacks, including Russian FPV drones hunting people in the streets, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said.

Sybiha said Ukraine will raise the situation in Oleshky and other occupied settlements on the left bank of Kherson Oblast at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week in New York and plans to discuss humanitarian access and evacuation with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger. Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said Russia has for a long time not confirmed readiness to carry out a humanitarian evacuation mission from the city. The ICRC has confirmed its readiness to participate in an organized evacuation, according to Sybiha, and other international humanitarian organizations are ready to deliver aid, but Russia has not provided the necessary access.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian sources frame the situation in Oleshky as a humanitarian catastrophe deliberately created by Russia through a blockade of food, medicine and evacuation. Coverage centers on the churches' appeal to the Pope and international humanitarian bodies and on Ukraine's diplomatic push to raise the issue at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. Officials point to ongoing Russian attacks on civilians, including with FPV drones, and to a reported September 1 attack on four volunteer aid vehicles. Local officials add granular survival details: residents grinding pasta into flour, baking flatbreads on wood-fired stoves, drawing water from wells, and the city's only remaining shop having closed.

How international sources describe it

International outlets such as Germany's Bild and Deutsche Welle have framed the story as an externally observable humanitarian emergency, citing UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission data showing no food deliveries since late May and accounts from volunteers with organizations such as Humanity. Coverage emphasizes civilian hardship — residents having survived the summer on homegrown vegetables now running out — and the geographic absurdity of Oleshky lying only about 4 km from Ukrainian-controlled Kherson yet cut off by Russian checkpoints. A competing Russian-language narrative claiming that Ukrainian forces are blocking aid deliveries is noted by the Ukrainian Center of National Resistance as propaganda rather than endorsed.

Where reporting differs

Estimates of the remaining civilian population in Oleshky conflict: the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches says more than 6,000 people including about 200 children, while Foreign Minister Sybiha says about 2,000 including about 50 children. Sources also differ on the duration of the cutoff — the Council of Churches, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission and Bild point to roughly late May 2026 as the last food deliveries, while Kherson Oblast Military Administration deputy head Oleksandr Tolokonnikov says the city has been in a blockade for more than nine months. Ukrainian officials blame Russian forces for the blockade and obstruction of aid; the Ukrainian Center of National Resistance reports that Russian sources instead claim the Ukrainian Armed Forces are blocking deliveries. According to Tolokonnikov, Russia is interested in keeping civilians in Oleshky so its troops can shelter behind them.

Background

Oleshky is located on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast and was occupied by Russia in the first days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. In June 2023, the city suffered large-scale flooding after Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam. Before the invasion, Oleshky had a population of about 24,000; current estimates of how many people remain vary sharply between Ukrainian and religious sources.