Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, WCC appeal for end to humanitarian catastrophe in Oleshky

Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, WCC appeal for end to humanitarian catastrophe in Oleshky

iku

Thu, 09/24/2026 - 11:39

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, on 19 September, issued an appeal to the World Council of Churches (WCC), Pope Leo XIV, the World Evangelical Alliance, and other religious leaders to raise their voices and use every available means to save several thousand residents of the occupied Oleshky in the Kherson Region of Ukraine, from death by starvation.

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Destroyed residential buildings in Irpin, Kyiv region, Ukraine — a result of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

“The city of Oleshky, located in the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russian forces, is under a humanitarian blockade and is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe,” reads the appeal. “ The last food supplies were delivered to the area at the end of May 2026.”

Residents are starving, while Russian forces are preventing them from leaving the city.

“ These are civilians who face the daily threat of shelling…