During the International Marathon “Unity of Local Self-Government for the Welfare of the People and Peace”, Ukrainian mayors spoke about the situation in their cities and called on their European counterparts to increase pressure on their governments. They should be required to immediately close the sky over our state, as well as to supply the Ukrainian army and territorial defense units not only with humanitarian aid, but also with lethal and non-lethal weapons

Author: Dmytro Syniak

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Representatives of local self-government of Ukrainian cities and cities of the countries that receive the largest number of refugees from Ukraine joined the online broadcast. First of all, these are the cities of Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. The purpose of this dialogue was to show the world the true face of the war that Russia has waged against Ukraine, as well as to strengthen the partnership between local self-government of Ukraine and the world. The event was initiated by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development in partnership with the Council of Europe Enhancing Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine project, USAID Economical Support of Eastern Ukraine project, Association of Ukrainian Cities, Association of Amalgamated Municipalities, and Decentralisation portal.

 

The dialogue was opened by Oleksiy Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development.  

- Local governments across Europe have felt a certain kinship in recent years, and this became extremely important during the war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, he said. – All our municipalities are different, but many of them now suffer from Russian bullets, shells and missiles. Our enemy was greatly surprised by the force of the Ukrainian hromadas. Each municipality is now a fortress that continues to fight the invaders even under temporary occupation. A senseless, unnecessary war must be stopped immediately, and it is in your power. The fact that a bloody massacre is taking place in the heart of Europe, resulting in the destruction of Ukrainian cities and the killing of children, is terrorism and barbarism. Last Saturday, our President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to the mayors of the European cities, said that 79 children had died as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine. Only few days have passed, and now there are more than a hundred such children… The main word in the title of our ministry is development. This is our goal and at the same time it is what Russia is trying to prevent us from doing. For the Putin’s regime, Ukraine’s development is a verdict!

Oleksiy Chernyshov made several requests to the mayors of the European cities, which, given their importance, sounded like demands. After all, the bloody war, the daily deaths of thousands of Ukrainians, as well as the fact that Ukraine is now defending the whole of Europe from Russian imperial ambitions, gives Ukrainian government officials the right to address their partners with demands. The line between totalitarianism and the values of a free democratic society is currently passing along the front line in Ukraine.

The first demand of Ukrainian local self-government leaders was to close the sky, which should protect the inhabitants of Ukrainian municipalities. According to Oleksiy Chernyshov, mayors should put pressure on their governments to demand this immediately. The next requirement is to apply the toughest economic sanctions to make the war economically impossible for Russia. The third demand was to speed up the procedures for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, the right to join which Ukrainians now pay for with their blood.

Claudia Luciani, Director of Democratic Governance at the Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Democracy, admitted that she “feels ashamed because she is not in Ukraine now.” She also reminded of Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe, “which is a significant step in support of Ukraine”.

- We hear the calls of our partners in Ukraine, with whom we have worked fruitfully for many years, - said Ms. Claudia. - This is an extremely difficult time for the whole of Europe and everything that is dear to us. Russia’s violence will have huge consequences for the world economy, international relations, the environment, and so on. And I am proud of Ukrainians who are bravely fighting this violence, defending their people and their institutions. We would like to pay tribute to all employees of local self-government of Ukraine who take part in this struggle, as well as to all the Ukrainian people.

The address of Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv Mayor and President of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, was very emotional, sincere and astounding at once. He demonstrated metal pellets measuring about a centimeter by a centimeter, which blow apart within a radius of 500 meters from the site of the explosion. Russian weapons designed to kill people en masse are now destroying them in peaceful Kyiv. According to Vitali Klitschko, 222 people have died in the capital since the beginning of the war, including 6 children. And the satellite towns of Kyiv – Irpin, Bucha and Borodyanka have become ghost settlements, on the streets of which lie the corpses of residents.

- We used to say “Good morning!” at the beginning of the day, but now we can’t call our mornings good, because in the morning the shelling of peaceful Kyiv with rockets, shells and bombs begins, said the mayor. – Every day I go to the shelled areas to help other people find a roof over their heads, which they just lost, and bury new victims. I have just returned from Podil district and Vynohradar, where a school and a kindergarten were destroyed by shells. Moreover, the five-story houses next door are now unlivable. We call the Russian military orcs because of such meaningless, purely civilian shelling. After all, these are not humans... Ukrainians have always been famous for their peace and hospitality. But do you know how they feel about their enemies now? They feel rage, unspeakable rage! One man, about sixty years old, said to me, standing near his burning house: “I ask only one thing – give me a weapon!” People who did not even think of raising a hand against anyone are now determined to defend their country and ruthlessly destroy those who have brought them such grief. Now we feel a fierce hatred for everyone who kills our people and destroys our city. And we’d rather die than give it to the orcs. We are ready to fight them! Kyiv has always been and will remain a free European city! We will never become slaves!

Vitali Klitschko also called on European local government officials “not to allow Russia to earn a single euro or dollar”.

- The Russian government is investing this money not in its hospitals and roads, but in its army, in the new weapons with which they are killing us, he noted. – Russia wants to conquer all of Ukraine, have no illusions that it needs only Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. It will eventually encroach on European countries, and NATO is no obstacle to that. Since imperialism has no limits. Russia is not satisfied with our self-governing state, it wants to appoint mayors from Moscow. Many Russians are already saying that they need to seize all the countries of the former Soviet Union and even all the countries of the Warsaw Pact. They want to destroy not only our country, they want to destroy democracy in the whole of Europe. So now we are fighting not only for Ukraine, we stand for European values!

This point was supported by Zhytomyr Mayor Serhii Sukhomlyn, who, as he says, is blacklisted in Russia because of his help to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

- Now the fate of Europe is being decided not in Brussels, but in Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy, he said. – We thank the EU member states for humanitarian, economic and other assistance. Recently, for example, we sent sick children from dangerous regions to Switzerland and the Netherlands, where they will get a free medical treatment. We also constantly receive medicines and food products from the European Union, which we then send throughout Ukraine. That’s good, but we need more weapons. If you can’t give weapons, give at least bulletproof vests, helmets, armored cars and so on. We have a lot of people who need it, because the number of people willing to serve in the territorial defense of Zhytomyr is now skyrocketing. And we will deal with everything else ourselves.

Mukachevo Mayor Andrii Baloha appealed to the European Union, and in particular to the Hungarian authorities, with whom Mukachevo has many friendly ties, to provide at least non-lethal weapons: “helmets, first aid kits, among others.”

- Look what these Russian monsters did to Kharkiv! He said indignantly. – They can do the same to Mukachevo, because they do not have any moral safeguards. Therefore, even in Mukachevo, no one feels safe now. The enemy strikes everywhere, and air alarms are heard every night in almost every Ukrainian city. If someone thinks that by seizing Ukraine, Putin will stop, he is deeply mistaken: Putin’s last war will be the one in which he will be defeated. Ukraine can inflict this defeat on him if it is backed by sister cities from all over Europe. So let’s be together in this difficult time for all of us!

- We also feel at war, and fighting spirit in Chernivtsi is very high, there are long lines to military enlistment offices, added Chernivtsi Mayor Roman Klychuk. – We have sheltered in the city about fifty thousand internally displaced persons from the regions where the fightings are taking place. We are struggling not only for our country, but also for a free and independent Europe. But Europe must also help us not only with humanitarian aid, but above all by stopping any trade with Russia!

The words of Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov appeared to be the most memorable, seemed to come from the depth of his heart irritated by what he had to witness and at the same time remained utterly true.

- 23 days of war are 23 days of constant bombing by “Grads” (“Hail”), “Hurricanes”, self-propelled artillery installations, he said. – Besides, we are constantly bombed from the sky. An air alert has now been declared, which means that Russian planes are again flying to drop bombs on our city. I saw their bombers, I was lying on the ground under shells. I know what I’m talking about. Kharkiv is being totally destroyed. 708 buildings are destroyed, of which more than 600 are residential. People are left homeless, and we place them in schools and kindergartens. But Russian artillery is also hitting schools and kindergartens. More than 60 Kharkiv schools have already been demolished. The Russians are deliberately attacking power substations, water mains and gas pipelines to cause a humanitarian catastrophe. Our heroic communal workers work 24 hours a day under shelling, which does not subside for an hour. We are actually doing the impossible to make the city live. Imagine, 102 trucks still take out garbage from Kharkiv! They are being shot at, but they are still working! Tell me, what else needs to happen for Europe to protect us? I ask the mayors of the European cities: demand from your governments to close the sky over Ukraine! This will help not only Kharkiv, but also your cities, because Ukraine is now an outpost of democracy in Europe. Now all diplomacy must be aimed at ending hostilities! Close the sky, give us heavy weapons, and our army will be able to deal with the Russians on its own. Because most Kharkiv residents do not want to leave “their favorite city”, they want to protect it from the enemy. The spirit that now prevails in Kharkiv and throughout Ukraine shows that victory will be for Ukraine and Europe!

The address of Chortkiv Mayor Volodymyr Shmatko was also impressive. He joined the online marathon just from the cab of a humanitarian truck he was returning in from Germany to his home municipality.   

 - Thousands of Ukrainian women and children are now standing at the border, wishing to cross over to the safe Polish side, Mr Volodymyr said. - All of Ukraine is going through the darkest times in its history. But we must persevere, and we will persevere, because we want all the sacrifices made for Ukraine’s independence to be not in vain. Little Chortkiv has already received 2,500 refugees. And I was struck by the persistence of men from Kharkiv, who brought women and children to us, and then returned to defend their home city. We receive a lot of humanitarian goods, and now we have even taken care of the occupied city of Trostyanets, Sumy oblast. We sent 300 tons of cargo only to Sumy and Mykolaiv oblasts, where our military has just liberated entire municipalities from orcs. Doctors from Vyshhorod, Irpin and other towns work at the Chortkiv hospital. Teachers from all over Ukraine got jobs in our schools. The Russians must understand that not only the Ukrainian army is fighting against them, but also our entire state! However, our European partners must also understand that without closing our sky, it will be extremely difficult for us to cope with this horde. Stop the transit of goods through Belarus, which helps Russia circumvent sanctions! Achieve complete international isolation of Russia! You did not react to the annexation of Crimea, you only expressed deep concern about it, and now you are actually on the verge of the world war. Ukraine is able to stop it, Ukraine is able to make the world qualitatively different, so I am proud that God gave me the honor to be born as a Ukrainian!

Foreign representatives of local self-government expressed their solidarity with the mayors, whom Russian troops are “hunting” at, kidnapping (Melitopol, Dniprorudne), or even killing in public (Gostomel).

“Speeches of mayors of Ukrainian cities break my heart. We, a network of 14 local self-government associations, have set up a working group to help Ukraine. It is a coordination center that determines the needs of the Ukrainian cities in medicines, generators, fuel, in the organization of camps for temporarily displaced persons. We do everything we can to help you at least a little bit. We direct our assistance to logistics hubs in Poland. You are constantly in our prayers for peace in Ukraine and for an end to the suffering of Ukrainians”, said Joachim Roth from the Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South-East Europe (NALAS).

- I am very grateful for the humanitarian aid we have received, summed up Oleksiy Chernyshov. – But I ask that this aid not be a ransom for silence on the issues that are vital to us: closing the sky and cooperating with the aggressor country. For example, Nestle, Danon, Metro, Auschan and others continue to operate in Russia. Demand termination of their activities!.. We are grateful for the development of the vector of accession to the European Union. But now the most important thing for us is to stop the destruction of the Ukrainian nation and the destruction of the Ukrainian cities. Our lives depend on you today, and if you do not protect us, tomorrow you too may face Putin’s army. Do not make a fatal mistake, stop this war, help Ukraine!

The next step is a dialogue with the municipalities of Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom that will take place on March 22.