European Parliament Vice-President Begins Hunger Strike to Draw Attention to Oleshky

European Parliament Vice-President Pina Picierno has officially announced the start of an indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with and in support of the residents of the city of Oleshky, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, on the left bank of Ukraine’s Kherson region, who are suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis. Source: LRT

The European politician explained that she had taken this radical and unprecedented step to draw the attention of the international community, EU leaders, and humanitarian organizations to the catastrophic conditions in which Ukrainians are struggling to survive in territories occupied by Russia, where people are completely deprived of basic medical care, drinking water, electricity, and adequate access to food.

In her official statement, Pina Picierno emphasized that the civilized world has no moral right to silently watch the systematic suffering of civilians held hostage by Russian occupying forces after the catastrophic destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and the subsequent abuses by the invaders. For months, residents of Oleshky have been surviving without any humanitarian corridors, under constant shelling and amid a climate of severe terror imposed by Russian punitive forces.

The European Parliament’s Vice-President called on international associations, citizens, and national and local institutions to join her nonviolent protest, so that together they can urge the EU and the UN to increase diplomatic pressure on Moscow, allow independent missions into occupied areas, and provide urgent assistance to those affected.

This bold political gesture has sparked a wide response in European political circles. Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora have expressed their full support for the initiative, urging world leaders to respond immediately to the humanitarian catastrophe and develop new mechanisms to rescue people from areas under Russian occupation.

The protest is ongoing, drawing increasing attention from leading global media to the tragedy on Ukraine’s left bank.

Earlier, Pina Picierno said that European countries need to build collective sovereignty to counter hybrid threats from Russia and China.