European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno announced a hunger strike to “draw international attention” to the situation in Oleshky, a city in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.
Picierno called on humanitarian organizations and governments to take notice of her protest.
“We must demand an immediate humanitarian truce, the entry of food and medicines, and the possibility of safely evacuating civilians who wish to leave the city,” she said.
Oleshky is under Russian control. For months, its residents have been without electricity, food, and adequate medical care amid relentless shelling from both sides. Leaving the city is nearly impossible because most roads out are mined.
Several days ago, Pope Leo XIV called Russian President Vladimir Putin to ask him to ensure that humanitarian aid could reach the city and residents could be evacuated. Soon afterward, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, confirmed that Kyiv and Moscow were working to resolve the situation. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed this as well.
Oleshky’s humanitarian crisis
- ‘The smell of death is everywhere’: Inside the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Russian-occupied Oleshky, where hundreds are trapped without food, electricity, or medicine
- A humanitarian crisis is gripping Russian-occupied Oleshky as food deliveries stop and safe evacuation becomes nearly impossible
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.