Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to help evacuate about 1,700 people he said remain trapped in Oleshky.
In a post on X, Sybiha said mines and attack drones threatened anyone attempting to escape along the devastated Ukrainian town’s only exit road. A nearby river is also mined, he wrote.
“Russians are trying to turn the Ukrainian town of Oleshky into a death trap.”
The hospital has exhausted its medicine supplies, according to his account. He also alleged that Russian forces were preventing residents from burying the dead, leaving dozens of bodies in houses and on the streets.
Families face starvation and are eating what remains from their gardens, preserved food and even snails, Sybiha said. He cited residents who said Russian soldiers had threatened them with guns to take their food.
Residents doubt they will make it through the winter, he wrote.
Virginia Times could not independently verify his account of conditions in Oleshky or the conduct of Russian soldiers.
Ukraine has repeatedly asked for civilians to be allowed out of Oleshky and for aid to be allowed in, Sybiha said. He called on the U.N., the ICRC and other partners to use their contacts to arrange safe passage and get humanitarian supplies into the town immediately.
He also called on Russia to stop blocking efforts to save civilian lives.
The minister thanked Pope Leo XIV for what he described as an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire that would allow humanitarian deliveries to Oleshky. He also thanked partners and people drawing attention to residents’ plight.
“People cannot survive on statements of concern. They need action,” Sybiha wrote. “They need a way out. And they need it now.”
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