Dmytro Lubinets
Dmytro Lubinets is a Ukrainian public official who serves as the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman). Before taking up the post, he worked in human rights protection and legal practice in Ukraine.
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Pina Picierno ends hunger strike for occupied Oleshky after talks on humanitarian ceasefire
European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno ended the hunger strike she began on 20 October to draw attention to the humanitarian situation in occupied Oleshky. Ukrainian human-rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said progress on arrangements for a local ceasefire, aid delivery and civilian evacuation had been achieved and that the strike had become a serious health risk.
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Ukraine and Russia agree local ceasefire for aid and evacuation in Oleshky
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to temporarily halt fighting in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky to facilitate humanitarian deliveries and prepare civilian evacuations through a designated safe corridor. The White House says US First Lady Melania Trump brokered the arrangement, although Ukraine and Russia had not publicly confirmed the deal when the announcement was published. The reported start date remains disputed: the White House says October 29, while the Ukrainian and Russian general staffs announced a mode of silence from 03:00 Kyiv time on October 27.
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Ukraine says Russia plans international propaganda telebridge over Oleshky
Ukraine’s intelligence directorate says Russia is preparing an international propaganda “telebridge” to conceal war crimes in occupied Oleshky, discredit Ukraine’s Defense Forces and weaken foreign support. The Zoom event is planned for October 22, with representatives of 80 countries and international organizations reportedly targeted.
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Ukraine and Russia agree local ceasefire in occupied Oleshky for aid and civilian evacuation
Ukraine and Russia have agreed a local ceasefire and humanitarian mission in occupied Oleshky, providing for aid deliveries and civilian movement through a designated safe corridor. The operation is intended to establish longer-term humanitarian corridors, with the General Staff saying Ukrainian forces are ready to carry it out. Ukrainian officials say the mission will be gradual and exceptionally difficult.
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Ukraine's ombudsman reports rights violations at Odesa recruitment centre
Dmytro Lubinets said representatives of Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights documented violations at a territorial recruitment and social support centre in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, Odesa Oblast. Mobilized people were held in basements under unsuitable conditions, while barred doors, inadequate sanitation and improper equipment storage raised further concerns. Lubinets said he was preparing response acts to seek remedies and investigations.
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European Parliament vice-president begins hunger strike over humanitarian crisis in occupied Oleshky
Pina Picierno, Vice-President of the European Parliament, announced a hunger strike on 20 October to draw international attention to the humanitarian situation in occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. She is demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, access for food and medicine, and the safe evacuation of civilians who wish to leave the city. By the morning of 21 October, 277 people had joined her initiative on her website.
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Odesa court convicts nine military recruitment staff for illegal detentions and violence
The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa found nine employees of a district territorial centre of recruitment (TCC and SP) guilty of illegally detaining men and using violence during mobilization. Seven received real prison sentences of up to seven years and one month, while the remaining two received suspended or alternative sentences. Two further TCC employees who denied guilt remain under judicial review.
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Ukrainian forces deliver 4 tonnes of food by drone to occupied Oleshky as humanitarian crisis deepens
Ukrainian forces used drones to deliver about 4,000 kg of food to 100 locations in Russian-occupied Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, one of the largest such operations since systematic drone deliveries across the Dnipro began in March. Head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces shoot down delivery drones, seize or resell the food, and detain and beat residents who receive aid. The situation has been raised at the UN Security Council, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha comparing the blockade to the 1932–1933 Holodomor.
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Ukraine proposes Oleshky evacuation, accuses Russia of blocking it as starvation reports mount
Ukraine has proposed a temporary ceasefire and land corridor to evacuate civilians from Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, but says Russia has rejected the plan. Ukrainian officials describe a humanitarian catastrophe with no food deliveries since late May, cases of starvation, and civilians trapped by mines and shelling, while Kyiv appeals to the UN, ICRC, Council of Europe and Pope Leo XIV for help.
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Council of Europe rights chief calls for ceasefire, evacuation in occupied Oleshky
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty has called for an immediate local ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, and the evacuation of civilians from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Kherson region, where residents face severe hunger, lack of medicine, water, and electricity. No food deliveries have reached the town since late May, and the only road in is mined and monitored by drones. O'Flaherty cited the Fourth Geneva Convention in holding Russia, as the occupying power, responsible for providing for the population.
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Ukrainian churches appeal to Pope Leo XIV over humanitarian crisis in occupied Oleshky
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has appealed to Pope Leo XIV, the UN, the ICRC and other religious bodies to intervene in what it calls a humanitarian catastrophe in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. Ukraine says the city has had no food deliveries since late May 2026, with civilians cut off from supplies and prevented from leaving, and announced it will raise the situation at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week.
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Trump signs Graham Act, codifying US sanctions for forced deportation of Ukrainian children
US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act (H.R. 5334) on 18 September, putting into statute for the first time sanctions grounds for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. The law also authorizes sweeping tariffs on Russian energy buyers and direct Russian imports, and bans new US investments in Russia.
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Anti-Corruption Center says Ukrainian investigators knew of alleged crimes in Skelia regiment since March
Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Center (ЦПК) has alleged that the State Bureau of Investigation (ДБР) may have known since at least March 2026 about alleged crimes in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" but failed to open pretrial investigations until after a Babel media investigation was published in June. According to ЦПК, the Office of the Military Ombudsman sent eight letters to the ДБР and the Office of the Prosecutor General between March and June 2026 describing possible offenses including torture, physical violence and failure to provide medical aid resulting in death; in six of those cases the ДБР declined to open pretrial investigations, citing insufficient grounds.
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Ukraine's Diia portal opens four new claim categories in international Register of Damage
Ukraine's Diia portal launched four new categories of applications to the international Register of Damage for Ukraine (RD4U). The categories cover loss of access to medical care, loss of access to education, other violations of international law, and other economic losses. Applications are submitted through the Diia portal and forwarded automatically to the Register.