Humanitarian catastrophe in occupied Kherson region: Ukraine and ICRC prepare evacuation of civilians
Kyiv • UNN
The ICRC is ready to facilitate the departure of people from occupied Oleshky and neighboring villages. Ombudsman Lubinets reported that lists of individuals for urgent evacuation have been sent to the committee.
The humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Kherson region is gaining momentum. The International Committee of the Red Cross has assured Ukraine that it is ready to facilitate the organization of the departure of Ukrainians from this territory. As reported by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, the ICRC has already been sent lists of those in need of evacuation, UNN reports.
Details
According to Lubinets, every day people in occupied Oleshky suffer from a humanitarian catastrophe, large-scale destruction, and destroyed civilian infrastructure. The city and surrounding settlements remain without proper access to water, food, medical care, and safety.
According to available information, the situation remains critical in Oleshky, Hola Prystan, Stara Zburivka, and Nova Zburivka in the Kherson region. Russian occupiers are blocking the departure of people and preventing the supply of basic goods and medicines. The population has decreased from about 40,000 to approximately 6,000 people, specifically in Oleshky — from 24,000 to about 2,000. In total, more than 6,000 people may need humanitarian aid, including about 200 children. Most of them have limited mobility
Earlier, Lubinets appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation regarding the need to organize a safe evacuation of the civilian population.
I received a response from the ICRC regarding their readiness to facilitate the necessary measures to organize the departure of Ukrainian citizens from this territory. Currently, work is underway with all relevant parties to develop safe evacuation routes. Once the decisions are agreed upon, concrete steps will be taken for the departure of civilians in need. For our part, we have provided the ICRC with a generalized list of people who need assistance, including evacuation, and we are in constant contact with them
Lubinets hopes that as a result of this work, real humanitarian solutions will be provided that will allow for the organized safe departure of civilians to the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine.