Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russian forces on Saturday of creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, where residents are reportedly facing severe hunger and a shortage of medical supplies. He called on international organizations to help civilians escape.

Sybiha’s statement on X came one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Pope Leo that Moscow would cooperate in getting essential supplies into Oleshky, located in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

“Russians are trying to turn the Ukrainian town of ​Oleshky into a death trap. The hospital has run out ⁠of medicine. Dozens of bodies lie in the streets or in homes, ​as Russians forbid residents from burying them,” Sybiha wrote.

“Families are starving, surviving on ​leftover garden vegetables, preserves and even snails … Ukraine has repeatedly called for safe evacuation and international humanitarian access. These appeals cannot remain unanswered.”

In September, the Kremlin acknowledged that Oleshky was experiencing serious shortages of food and medicine but said Russian military personnel were working to address the crisis. Ukrainian forces have since used drones on two occasions to transport food and medical supplies into the town.

Sybiha appealed to the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to “secure safe evacuation corridors and immediate humanitarian access.”

Oleshky is situated on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, most of which fell under Russian control shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukrainian forces later retook substantial territory in a counteroffensive, including the regional capital, Kherson.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy characterized conditions in Oleshky earlier this week as “genocide.”

Before the war, Oleshky had approximately 24,000 residents. Danielle Bell, who heads the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said the population has since dwindled to roughly 1,700 people, including 47 children.

Separately, local prosecutors reported on Saturday that Russian forces had struck the city of Kherson with aerial bombs. The city sits across the Dnipro River from Oleshky. The attack killed an ambulance driver and left 40 people wounded.