European Parliament Vice-President Pina Picierno has announced a hunger strike to draw the international community's attention to the humanitarian crisis in the temporarily occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region. The Italian politician announced this in a post on the social network X, which Ukrainian media cited on October 20, 2026, referencing her statement. According to her, the protest aims to «bring international attention to this emergency situation,» and she emphasizes that «this struggle cannot be just mine.»
Nature of the protest and specific demands
In her appeal, Picierno outlines three key demands: an immediate humanitarian truce, the delivery of food and medicine to the city, and the creation of conditions for the safe evacuation of residents wishing to leave Oleshky. The politician calls her initiative a «great non-violent action» and urges civil society organizations, citizens, and national and local institutions to join it. On the same day, an interview with her was published in the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, in which she described the hunger strike as «a gesture of anger and hope» and a response to the Pope's call for a truce.
Humanitarian crisis in Oleshky
According to reports on the situation in the city, the humanitarian crisis in temporarily occupied Oleshky has been worsening for months: residents face shortages of food, medicine, and medical care, while opportunities to leave the city remain severely limited due to hostilities and mined roads. As Picierno notes, «those who stay risk dying of hunger, those who try to escape risk their lives.» According to her, about 24,000 people lived in Oleshky before the war. Sources give conflicting figures for the number of civilians remaining: some reports mention about 2,000 people, while others put it at approximately 1,700. In any case, according to politicians and observers, thousands of people are trapped in the occupied territory without regular access to food and medicine.
Diplomatic context and the role of the papacy
Picierno directly links her initiative to the efforts of Pope Leo XIV and all those trying to prevent a large-scale humanitarian tragedy. Earlier, the pontiff discussed the humanitarian situation in Oleshky with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and subsequently held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for a settlement in the city. «The residents of Oleshky cannot be left to their fate. It is time to act together so that diplomacy yields real results and no one dies in silence,» said the European Parliament Vice-President, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and the admission of aid into the city.
Call for solidarity
Summing up, Picierno emphasizes that a solitary action cannot solve the problem and demands collective action: from civil society to national and local institutions. Her appeal is thus positioned not as an isolated gesture, but as an attempt to mobilize the international community around a specific humanitarian request—a truce, the delivery of aid, and the safe departure of civilians from the occupied city.
