Politician goes to Oleschky: Mission to rescue people

These days he is something like the last hope, or a kind of life insurance, for hundreds of people: Dmytro Lubinez. On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights ombudsman informed the public that he had set off with a delegation to Oleshky.

The front-line town in the south of Ukraine, surrounded by Russian troops, with only 1,500 to 2,000 catastrophically underserved residents, is like hell on earth. The aim of the mission under Lyubinets' aegis is to bring humanitarian aid to the city and ensure the evacuation of those who want to leave Oleshky. "For me there is nothing more important than a human life. That's why I do what I do," wrote Lubinez on his Telegram channel.

There he also posted photos showing him at the airport in the Belarusian city of Gomel. From there we should continue to the Russian Black Sea city of Anapa. If the action goes ahead as planned - a ceasefire has been in effect for Oleschky since last Tuesday - the 45-year-old would also have some good news to announce.

Lubinets was born in Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast. In 2003 he completed a degree in international relations and foreign policy at the Faculty of History at the University of Donetsk. In 2013 he completed a law degree in Kharkiv. At that time he had already been a member of the Volnovakha city parliament for three years. A year later, he was elected to the national parliament on the ticket of then-President Petro Poroshenko's party.

The married father of a son and a daughter was chairman of the parliamentary committee on human rights, the end of the occupation and reintegration of the temporarily Russian-occupied territories, as well as on national minorities and inter-ethnic relations. He was also a member of the Ukrainian permanent delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In April 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion, Lubinez was part of a team of Ukrainian negotiators who negotiated security guarantees for Ukraine with Russian representatives. Three months later he was appointed Human Rights Commissioner.

Lubinez continued to have direct contact with Russian representatives during various rounds of negotiations.

Not everyone likes that, criticism was also loud on Thursday. Lubinez responded immediately: "I ask you to trust official sources and not to draw conclusions from unconfirmed reports. Because you can hardly imagine how complex these negotiations were - and how long they took. But we are only halfway there. Hence my request: Let us put all questions on hold until I get home," he wrote on social media.

There he can then pursue one of his favorite activities again. Lubinez goes to the market every Sunday. Not only does he buy groceries there, but he also enjoys chatting with people. He must have a lot to say.