Dr Deborah Casalin

Researcher in international humanitarian and human rights law | Displacement, reparations, durable solutions 🇿🇦 🇮🇹 🇧🇪 🇪🇺

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

#Oleshky, occupied Ukraine: international pressure is needed to ensure humanitarian access and safe evacuation in line with international humanitarian law #UNGA81

[The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent]

Some 6,000 people — 200 of them children — are right now starving to death in a humanitarian catastrophe orchestrated by Vladimir Putin's Russia.

The town of Oleshky and its surrounding district in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast exist under Russian occupation as a prison — and it is rapidly turning into a death camp.

No one is allowed in or out. The last food delivery was on May 26. Medical supplies are close to non-existent.
https://t.co/rdhvHaVra6

[Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 @andrii_sybiha]

Today, at Ukraine’s demand, the @OSCE Permanent Council urgently addressed the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the temporarily occupied city of Oleshky.

The message from the international community to Russia was clear: it must provide full, safe and unhindered access for international organizations to Oleshky and ensure that civilians immediately receive food, medicine and a safe way out. The aggressor state cannot and shouldn’t hold civilians hostage any longer.

The delegation of Ukraine has also debunked Moscow’s lies and war propaganda regarding the real cause of the human suffering in Oleshky.

I am grateful to the Swiss @OSCE Chairpersonship and all participating States that clearly condemned Russia’s actions. I am also grateful to @osce_odihr for documenting Russian crimes and contributing to keep situation in Oleshky high on the international agenda.

Now, political calls must be translated into practical steps: securing full and immediate humanitarian access, increasing pressure on the aggressor, and ensuring accountability for those who deliberately created this man-made disaster.

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

Humanitarian access & evacuation still urgently needed in #Oleshky @SwitzerlandOSCE @ItalyatOSCE @BelgiumOSCE

[Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 @andrii_sybiha]

Ukraine initiated urgent consideration of the humanitarian catastrophe in temporarily occupied Oleshky at the @OSCE Permanent Council.

The issue, entitled “On the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation,” will be addressed tomorrow.

The delegation of Ukraine will inform participating States about the appalling situation created by the Russian occupation authorities, who are holding civilians, including children, hostage. This is nothing less than a man-made humanitarian disaster.

We will continue to debunk Russia’s cynical war propaganda and ensure that the international community knows the truth about what is happening in Oleshky.

The situation in Oleshky is critical and requires urgent action by the international community. I call on the Swiss @OSCE Chairmanship and all participating States to condemn the aggressor and exert the strongest possible pressure on Russia.

Oleshky needs urgent humanitarian relief. Russia must be compelled to allow it immediately.

[Christopher Miller @ChristopherJM]

Residents stuck in Oleshky are under constant attacks by Russian drones. Ambulances no longer respond to calls for help. “Sick and injured people, including victims of landmines and Russian drone attacks, are brought to hospital in wheelbarrows,” @Prokudin__ said. “And that is only if they are lucky enough to find someone willing to take the risk of transporting them.”
https://t.co/FgD89QA6TQ

[MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 @MFA_Ukraine]

The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is one of our country’s central institutions of scientific research, bringing together generations of Ukrainian researchers. Today, its building in the heart of Kyiv was hit by a Russian strike. A rescue operation is ongoing.

Russia continues to strike civilian sites across Ukraine, damaging essential infrastructure.

Every Russian strike must receive a strong response and increased pressure on the aggressor.

We call on @UNESCO to stand with Ukraine's scientific community and strip Russia of its voice and voting rights within the organisation.

[Ukrainian Art History @ukr_arthistory]

Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences is burning after russian attack. Please support Ukrainian scientists and people who are trying to continue to work and create the future here despite everything, despite constant terror. I don't have words anymore.
photos @tca1_

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

Still ongoing, humanitarian corridor & evacuation still urgently needed: "'Hell on earth': last residents eat weeds to survive in Russian-occupied Oleshky" https://t.co/D67HeYAHWc @EUCouncil @kajakallas @eucopresident

[Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @ZarinaZabrisky]

Join or organize a global rally in your city, town, or village to help spread the word.

The more people know about these atrocities, the more of us out in the streets, the more politicians will be motivated to take action.

Join and find out more here: https://t.co/purt4sWIiC

[The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent]

This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the ever-tightening control of information imposed by the Kremlin.

https://t.co/5cnGyRpVWR

[Commissioner for Human Rights @CommissionerHR]

I am alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Oleshky, a town in the temporarily occupied parts of the Kherson region of Ukraine.

Civilians, including children, are trapped without sufficient food, medicines, medical care, running water or electricity. Reports indicate that they face a high risk of death.

Under international humanitarian law, Russia, as the occupying power, has the duty to provide food and medical supplies and to facilitate humanitarian relief.

I call for an immediate local ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, and the safe evacuation of civilians.

The hardship and suffering of people caught along the frontlines of the war and in occupied territories demand international attention and action.
#humanrights #Ukraine #Oleshky #Kherson #HumanitarianLaw

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

Why people did not evacuate from #Oleshky earlier: "Locals remember occupied Kherson, from which evacuations were announced. Russia took people 1,000 km deep into its territory. People are afraid." - report by @HromadskeUA 👆 #UNGA

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

"Many people suggest dropping food from drones... the Russians either shoot down these parcels or figure out whose yard they landed in... and torture these people." #UNGA #Oleshky

[hromadske @HromadskeUA]

Ми вже писали про гуманітарну кризу й голод в Олешках, але зараз ситуація погіршилася. Як виживають люди в окупації — читайте в матеріалі Наталії Мазіної https://t.co/WDkRnRb5JY

[Kateryna Lisunova @KaterynaLis]

‼️The Ukrainian delegation also raised the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Oleshky at the UN Security Council.

Now the question is: will the international community react?

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha ) :

“Take one town, Oleshky, and its wider community on the occupied left bank of the Dnipro. Under siege, food, medicine, electricity, and gas have all been cut off. As winter approaches, Russia is deliberately making life there impossible. They are starving them to death.

No country, no international organization can reach those people. Every day, they run out of food, water, and all the resources they need to survive.

The world rightly condemns the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis. Today, Russia applies the same method against Ukrainians. The Kremlin reproduces the crimes of the past, and this policy echoes an older wound — the Holodomor genocide, when millions of Ukrainians were deliberately starved by the Kremlin regime.

Hunger was Moscow’s weapon then, and it’s Moscow’s weapon now.
One Oleshky resident, Alla, survives only on tea with honey. The last food delivery reached her town before summer.

This is not neglect. OSCE monitors call it an engineered blockade. Russia does not let people leave because it uses them as human shields.

If you remember one thing from this meeting, remember Oleshky. Hear their cry for help. Demand that Russia open humanitarian corridors.

Moscow is the only cause of this disaster and the only obstacle to ending it.

Oleshky is only one horror among many. In the first half of this year, more Ukrainian civilians were killed than in any same period in four years, and each month has broken this sad record.”

Andrii Sybiha, during a UN Security Council meeting on the agenda item “Maintaining Peace and Security in Ukraine,” on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.

Video by Marichka Hlyte (@marichkahlyten )

[Kateryna Lisunova @KaterynaLis]

Here is an important takeaway from UNGA 2026: there is a major humanitarian catastrophe under russian occupation that almost no one at the UN is talking about, at least not publicly.

In Oleshky, near Kherson, thousands of civilians are trapped without food, medicine, or a safe way out.

Food was last delivered on May 26. Since then, attempts to bring in supplies have failed because vehicles came under russian fire. russian forces are also preventing residents from evacuating, reportedly killing people who attempt to leave the city.

More than 6,000 people are still there, including around 200 children.

Volunteers say people in local chats are discussing which weeds are safe to eat and how to make tea from tree bark.

Ukraine has proposed evacuation routes and worked with international organizations, but russian forces have not confirmed that they will facilitate an evacuation.

This is what russian occupation looks like. And this is what the United Nations should be talking about.

People in Oleshky need humanitarian aid and a humanitarian corridor that gives them a safe way out.

And russia needs to get out of Ukraine.

VIDEO BY @marichkahlyten

[Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @ZarinaZabrisky]

🔴 KHERSON/OLESHKY: Thanks for covering this subject. Please take your time to do the proper research. Replying to disinformation and requests.

🧵General facts about the Kherson region: two banks of the Dnipro River.

[BBC News (World) @BBCWorld]

Risking their lives to find food and water in Russian-occupied city https://t.co/8hN1MeVvsU

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

#UNGA81

[MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 @MFA_Ukraine]

At the @UN Security Council in New York, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister @andrii_sybiha spoke about the humanitarian catastrophe Russia is creating in the temporarily occupied Oleshky, Kherson region, and the civilians trapped there. People in Oleshky are being left without food, water, electricity or medicine.

"As winter approaches, Russia is deliberately making life there impossible. They are starving them to death. No country, no international organization can reach those people. Every day they run out of food, out of water, and all resources to live," Andrii Sybiha stressed.

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

.@BelgiumUN @ItalyUN_NY @swiss_un @DIRCO_ZA

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

"Some bodies have been on the streets since December" - 1st hand accounts from #Oleshky. Humanitarian access & evacuation now are the minimum #UNGA81

[Olga Malchevska @BBC_Olga_M]

Residents are eating garden weeds in the Russian-occupied city of #Oleshky which is cut off from food and water.

They risked their lives to tell us their stories. Russia has banned foreign media from accessing the occupied territories of Ukraine.

https://t.co/danOB3PmK9

[Dr Deborah Casalin @CasalinDeborah]

.@EEAS_SecGen @hadjalahbib @EUatUN

[MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 @MFA_Ukraine]

Help is ready to reach Oleshky and other communities in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson region, which are facing a severe humanitarian crisis.

Ukraine is ready to evacuate civilians. The ICRC has confirmed its willingness to participate. Humanitarian organisations are ready to deliver essential aid. But access, food, medicine and other essential supplies have remained blocked by Russia.

Around 2,000 people, including around 50 children, are trapped there under Russian occupation.

This must end. Do not stay silent. Save Oleshky.