Lubinec Spoke of a Critical Situation in the Occupied Town of Oleshky
Dmytro Lubinets stated that Russia has not confirmed its willingness to evacuate people from the temporarily occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region. According to him, the town has turned into a “death trap” for local residents.
“We had agreements with the Russian side and established clear procedures. Separately, I secured the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which confirmed its readiness to participate in the evacuation of people in accordance with its mandate. We agreed on a list of people to be evacuated from Oleshky. We coordinated with the Security and Defense Forces to ensure a ceasefire during the humanitarian mission,” the ombudsman emphasized.
Lubinec also emphasized that several months ago he had informed a number of international organizations—including the UN and the ICRC headquarters in Geneva—about the critical situation in Oleshky. He called on international organizations to provide appropriate assistance to the people in order to prevent mass casualties.
“So what is happening now? Following the negotiations, the Russian side has for quite some time failed to confirm its readiness to carry out a humanitarian mission to evacuate people. However, our office continues to collect and verify information, as well as communicate with the ICRC, international organizations, and the relevant Ukrainian government agencies,” the official explained.
In addition, the ombudsman noted: “We continue to urge the Russian side to urgently evacuate people who are effectively trapped in the gray zone. These are civilians who face the threat of shelling and drone attacks every day and are left without food, drinking water, medicine, and other essential aid. These people need to be rescued. Because the city has turned into a death trap.”
Lubinec noted that he had received 176 appeals regarding the humanitarian situation in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region. “We have already verified 358 people who urgently need assistance to safely leave these territories. And these are only the ones we’ve managed to identify. Overall, based on the population of Oleshky and the surrounding area, there may be more than 6,000 people still there, including about 200 children,” he said.
“And the scariest thing is that people are already making their way on their own through mined fields because they see no other way to escape this hell. They risk being blown up by a mine or hit by a drone, but they keep going anyway because staying in Oleshky is even worse for them. These stories make your blood run cold. And so there’s only one task: to get our people out of this deadly danger,” Lubinets concluded.
Earlier, Russia struck Odesa and damaged a high-rise building.
On September 15, a Russian drone strike was recorded in Kyiv’s Svyatoshynsky District. Black smoke is rising from the site.
In the Solomyanskyi district of the capital, a strike was recorded on the grounds of a garage cooperative.
