Council of Europe rights chief calls for ceasefire and evacuation as occupied Oleshky faces famine
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, has called for an immediate local ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access and the safe evacuation of civilians from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. No food deliveries have reached the city since late May, residents are reported to be starving, and the only road into Oleshky is mined and monitored by Russian drones.
Key points
- Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since the first day of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
- The last official food delivery to Oleshky was on 26 May; since then every attempt to deliver supplies has failed.
- Russian forces shoot at aid vehicles or turn them back at checkpoints, according to multiple reports.
- Remaining civilians, including children, lack sufficient food, medicine, medical care, water and electricity; some families are reported to be eating dogs.
- Around 2,000 people are estimated to remain in the city itself (47 children), with the wider community figure estimated at 6,000 or more.
- The only road into Oleshky is mined and monitored by Russian drones; the city is about 4 km from Kherson but unreachable due to the blockade.
- Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty called on 25 September for an immediate local ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access and safe evacuation, holding Russia responsible under the IV Geneva Convention as the occupying power.
Why it matters
Civilians, including children and the elderly, are reported to be starving in a European city that has been under Russian occupation since 2022, with humanitarian access and evacuation effectively blocked. A senior European human rights official has publicly invoked the IV Geneva Convention to hold Russia, as occupying power, responsible for their welfare. With winter approaching, the only available foot route out of Oleshky — through mined fields — will become impassable, raising the risk of further preventable deaths.
What happened
On 25 September, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, called for an immediate local ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access and the safe evacuation of civilians from occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. He stated that Russia, as the occupying power under the IV Geneva Convention, is obliged to provide the population with food and medical supplies and to facilitate humanitarian aid. The call comes against a backdrop of a deepening humanitarian crisis: the last official food delivery to the city was on 26 May and no subsequent attempt has succeeded, Russian forces are reported to shoot at aid vehicles or turn them back at checkpoints, and the only road into Oleshky is mined and monitored by drones. Estimates of those remaining vary — about 2,000 in the city (47 children) according to the head of the Oleshky military administration Tetiana Hasanenko, up to 6,000 in the wider area (around 200 children) according to Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, and 2,000–4,000 according to O'Flaherty himself. Reports describe residents without food, water, electricity, gas, fuel or medicine, some families eating dogs, and at least 11 people who managed to leave on foot through mined fields.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian coverage centers Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky military administration, as the principal source documenting conditions in the city, with her estimate of around 2,000 residents (47 children). Ukrainian outlets also highlight appeals by Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and by the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations — which on 20 September addressed Pope Leo XIV, the UN and the ICRC — for international help with evacuation. Ukraine's National Resistance Center is cited saying Russia is exploiting the crisis for propaganda by blaming the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the blocked aid. Personal testimonies, including Alla Likhman-Malysh's 1 September Facebook post describing panic and exhausted vegetable gardens, are used to convey the scale of suffering.
How international sources describe it
The dominant international voice is the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, who invoked the IV Geneva Convention and named Russia as the occupying power responsible for civilians' welfare. German newspaper Bild reported on 16 September that Oleshky is in a humanitarian blockade and described famine in the city. A 20 September appeal by the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to Pope Leo XIV framed the crisis as a religious and international humanitarian emergency requiring outside help to evacuate residents.
Where reporting differs
Estimates of how many civilians remain in Oleshky diverge sharply: the head of the Oleshky military administration, Tetiana Hasanenko, says about 2,000 remain in the city (with 47 children); Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has cited over 6,000 people in the wider area, including around 200 children (with one figure also given as 182); the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has given an estimate of 2,000–4,000 people. Separately, Russian forces are reported to be blocking humanitarian aid, while Russian propaganda, as cited by Ukraine's National Resistance Center, claims the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preventing aid deliveries.
Background
Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since the first day of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023 cut off the city's centralized water, electricity and gas. Before the invasion, the Oleshky community — the city plus 12 other settlements — had about 40,000 residents, of whom roughly 24,000 lived in the city itself. Five settlements in the community have been completely destroyed and three more are about 80% destroyed. Earlier in 2025, paid "carriers" were evacuating people out of Oleshky for money, but those channels no longer exist.