Kyiv accuses Moscow of deliberately creating ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Russian-controlled part of Kherson region

Ukraine on Sunday accused Moscow of deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's southern Kherson region, bordering occupied Crimea.

On US social media platform X, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow is blocking access to food and medicine, obstructing humanitarian aid and civilian evacuations, while Russian drones "hunt people in the streets."

He said the population of Oleshky, which has been under Russian control since 2022, the first year of the war, had fallen to about 2,000 from roughly 24,000 before the war, calling the situation "dirty."

"There is no electricity or gas. Food, medicine, and other essentials have been blocked for the past month. Horrifying reports indicate that people are searching for scraps of food and gathering grass to survive," he said.

Sybiha said Ukraine is looking to organize an evacuation and that international humanitarian groups are ready to deliver life-saving assistance.

"The only obstacle is Russia," he said. "Russia is deliberately preventing these efforts from reaching people who desperately need them, turning humanitarian access itself into an instrument of pressure."

Sybiha said Ukraine would work to mobilize international pressure to secure humanitarian access, a humanitarian corridor, and the safe evacuation of civilians during the UN General Assembly's high-level week in New York, which starts on Monday.

"The international community must use its collective voice to break Russia's humanitarian blockade, secure immediate and unhindered access for humanitarian organisations, and enable the safe evacuation of civilians," he said.

"Russia must bear full responsibility for creating this humanitarian catastrophe and for its consequences."

On Sept. 2, Russia's Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik accused Ukraine of attacking a humanitarian convoy with drones near Oleshky, calling it a "war crime."

Miroshnik also accused Ukrainian forces of imposing a blockade on Oleshky, saying Ukrainian officials' statements expressing concern over the humanitarian situation in the city are "complete cynicism."

Independent verification of the claims from both sides remains difficult due to the ongoing war.