Papa Lav XIV. pozvao je ruskog predsjednika Vladimira Putina na prekid vatre kako bi se omogućila dostava hrane i humanitarne pomoći stanovnicima ukrajinskog grada Oleški, koji je pod ruskom kontrolom, priopćio je u petak Vatikan.

Papa je tijekom telefonskog razgovora izrazio duboku zabrinutost zbog pogoršanja humanitarne situacije u gradu, u kojem se produbljuje kriza s opskrbom hranom. Pozvao je i na omogućavanje dobrovoljne evakuacije civilnog stanovništva.

100s of people are trapped in the occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky. We spoke to some of the residents who escaped last week. Here’s what they told us: https://t.co/vdv7UbtS8U

— Paraic O’Brien (@paraicobrien) October 15, 2026

Kremlj je nakon razgovora priopćio da Putin podržava vatikansku inicijativu za pomoć stanovnicima Oleškija te da je Rusija spremna surađivati u njezinoj provedbi.

“Podržana je namjera Vatikana da pomogne u stvaranju uvjeta potrebnih za osiguravanje sigurnosti stanovništva grada i organiziranje dostave nužnih potrepština”, navodi se u priopćenju Kremlja, uz potvrdu da je dogovorena suradnja.

Incredible: another Ukrainian famine is unfolding, this time in Russian-occupied Oleshky. The remaining inhabitants of what used to be a thriving small city, now down to about 6000 people, are blockaded by Russian forces and cut off from food and water.
https://t.co/XfqaVQmpBH

— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) September 26, 2026

Ukrajina optužuje Rusiju za ometanje opskrbe stanovništva. Moskva je priznala ozbiljne probleme s dostavom hrane i medicinskih potrepština, ali za nastalu situaciju okrivljuje ukrajinsku stranu, tvrdeći da blokira isporuke. Ukrajinske snage nastoje ponovno zauzeti grad.

Oleški se nalazi u ukrajinskoj regiji Herson, a prije rata imao je oko 24.000 stanovnika. Prema podacima Danielle Bell, voditeljice Promatračke misije Ujedinjenih naroda za ljudska prava u Ukrajini, u gradu je ostalo približno 1.700 ljudi, među kojima je 47 djece.

SPECIAL REPORT | NEW: Oleshky: How Russia Governs Through Humanitarian Decline

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the occupied Oleshky area reflects the coercive logic of Russian occupation governance in a heavily damaged frontline city. Oleshky has become a test case for Russian rule in an area marked by depopulation, damaged infrastructure, chronic insecurity, and growing isolation from the rest of Ukraine. Rather than reversing these conditions, Russian occupation authorities appear to govern through them, leveraging residents’ increasing dependence on occupation-controlled services, institutions, and administrative systems to sustain control. As humanitarian vulnerabilities deepen and alternatives to occupation governance diminish, humanitarian decline and Russian occupation rule become mutually reinforcing.

Russian forces occupied these left bank settlements on February 24, 2022 — the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — during the initial military push to occupy all of Kherson Oblast from positions in occupied Crimea. Russian troops largely maintained a distance from Oleshky itself in the first few weeks of the invasion, and remaining elements of the Ukrainian city administration attempted to organize self-governance efforts and self-sufficient security patrols while refusing to directly cooperate with Russian soldiers. Geolocated images show Russian forces had officially entered Oleshky as of late March 2022, breaking the tacit governance agreement that had been in place with the remaining Ukrainian officials. Russian forces and occupation officials took full control of Oleshky in late April 2022, however, and about 40 percent of the pre-war population fled to Ukrainian-held territory while security checkpoints were still open.

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) October 2, 2026

Razgovor s Putinom drugi je poznati telefonski kontakt između ruskog predsjednika i pape Lava, nakon njihova prvog razgovora u lipnju 2025. godine. Papa je pritom ponovno potvrdio spremnost Svete Stolice da podupre inicijative usmjerene na postizanje mira.

Vatikan je u petak također izvijestio da se papa, koji ima 71 godinu, oporavlja u rimskoj bolnici Gemelli nakon operacije zbog raka pluća. Njegovo zdravstveno stanje postupno se poboljšava, a nastavio je raditi i obavljati uobičajene svakodnevne aktivnosti.