The united voice of Ukraine’s local self-government is now heard ever louder around the world, echoing the solidarity expressed by European municipalities.

Vienna, Wrocław, Dublin, Cannes, Kraków, Strasbourg, Zurich, Freiburg, along with a number of other European cities, have voiced their support for Ukrainian communities during the second online event of the “Local Governments Unite for Welfare and Peace” International Marathon that has already spanned ten countries.

On March 22, mayors from Ukraine, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, United Kingdom (more than 200 participants) discussed specific ways and means to help Ukrainians, to stop killings of civilians by the Russian army, total destruction of Ukrainian cities and villages, and to prevent Putin from moving further into Europe.

Indeed, in the words of Vitaliy Klychko, Kyiv’s Mayor, “it would be a big mistake for someone in Europe to think that the war in Ukraine is a distant affair! Do we really not know how far Russia would go? It has already shelled Ukraine’s border with Poland. This war will affect everyone on the continent. This is why we must fight together.” As stressed by Lviv’s Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, “There’s been no war like this over the last century. We are being attacked by hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who kill us, rape women. It’s hard for you to understand what it’s like to live under bombardments for weeks.”

These opinions have been supported by European mayors. Alison Gilliland, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ireland: “We understand that the Russian attack is a challenge to everything we believe in! Your struggle is our struggle! We are part of the EU, and our voice is heard there. I wholeheartedly support every sanction imposed on Russia.” Martin Horn, Mayor of Freiburg, Germany: “This war concerns the entire Europe, not only Ukraine. Lviv is our partner city, but now we are helping the entire Ukraine. Our residents have raised more than 1 million euros to help Ukraine. We are willing to help at the central government level as well.” Christoph Wiederkehr, Deputy Mayor of Vienna: “This is not a war against Ukraine, this is a war against Europe, against democracy!”

Local self-government leaders around the world have been shocked by the reports of crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. Serhiy Orlov, Deputy Mayor of Mariupol — a city encircled by Russians on land and sea — described the catastrophic situation: “Up to 100 bombs are being dropped on Mariupol every day. 90 per cent of the city are in ruins! More than three thousand peaceful civilians have been killed. We are being killed like Hiroshima — not quickly, by a single explosion, but slowly, every day. One bomb every 15 minutes! This is not a war, this is genocide; moreover, 45 per cent of the city’s population are ethnic Russians!”

Speaking on behalf of European local self-government, Claudia Luciani, Director of the Directorate of Human Dignity, Equality and Governance, Council of Europe, has expressed her admiration for the courage displayed by Ukrainians: “Local communities play a crucial role in the Ukrainian resistance during the war.”

Ukrainian communities’ leaders from both the war zone and relatively quiet areas (in Ukraine, relative calm now means mere occasional air strikes and regular air raid warnings) spoke about the ways in which their communities survive and help others. In particular, they accommodate IDPs and collect, coordinate and deliver humanitarian aid to hotspots.

More than half a thousand of Ukraine’s social infrastructure facilities have now been destroyed in the course of the military aggression, including 117 hospitals and 5 maternity hospitals; 400 schools and kindergartens have been damaged or destroyed, and about 600 residential houses have been ruined in Kharkiv alone. Entire towns and villages have been razed to the ground. Millions of Ukrainians have been made to flee their homes. That is why the help that is coming to Ukraine from all over the world these days is crucial. Each day Ukrainian cities receive from their sister cities and partners every medicine, food, and warm clothing that helps meet the basic human needs of those who have faced the horrors of this war.

It is noteworthy that, when accommodating IDPs from Ukraine, European municipalities pay particular attention to school-age children, creating the necessary environment for their studies. This was, in particular, emphasised by Christoph Wiederkehr, Vice Mayor of Vienna, where 10,000 refugees from Ukraine — half of whom are school-age children — have found refuge.  According to Vinnytsia’s Mayor Serhiy Morhunov, some French cities have started setting up health and sports camps for Ukrainian children and teenagers, where they can practice safely. This initiative is worthy of following by other European cities.

Leaders of Ukraine’s local self-government have unanimously called on their foreign peers to take joint action that would force the aggressor to stop the war.

“Ukraine’s local self-government has shown its strength, with every community now doing everything it can to stop the enemy and to defend European values. Please show that local government in Europe is also a force to be reckoned with; let’s work together to stop Russia's aggressive actions,” appealed Oleksiy Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine. He made an appeal to representatives of European municipalities to influence presidents, prime ministers, politicians — i.e. all those who make decisions that are critical for Ukraine, such as bolstering its defence capacity, imposing a no-fly zone, pressing on Russia with sanctions — at a grass-roots level.

Community leaders have singled out those European and multinational companies that continue to operate in Russia, thereby effectively sponsoring terrorism.

“Their headquarters are located in your cities. Their employees are members of your communities. Help us reach them. Any cooperation with Russia should be taboo! France’s Renault has recently resumed production in Russia. Trade relations with Russia must end. Because they invest every dollar they earn into their army instead of infrastructure,” said Kyiv’s Mayor Vitaliy Klychko.

“Renault and Metro still operate in Russia, while Metro has even threatened to cut off certain supplies to its branch in Ukraine. If Europe fails to help us, Russia will go further to overwhelm the entire Europe,” Vinnytsia’s Mayor Serhiy Morhunov pointed out.

The call for an economic boycott of multinational corporations that continue to operate in Russia was supported by European peers. Christophe Ramond, President of the Tarn Departmental Council, emphasised that “it’s necessary to boycott companies that continue to operate in Russia. It is absolutely unacceptable that European companies finance, albeit indirectly, the war against Ukraine.” Jacek Maria Majchrowski, Kraków’s Mayor, asked to “give us the list of companies that continue to operate in Russia and we will make sure that our communities become aware of this and boycott them.”

Alec von Graffenried, Mayor of Bern (Switzerland), also spoke about the importance of putting economic pressure on the aggressor: “We will continue to impose ever tougher sanctions against Russia. They are focused on oligarchs, key figures in Russia. Putin and the Russian leadership have wasted everything in this war, including their future. This is why our efforts inside Russia should be stepped up to make every Russian general understand that, after the war ends, he will be tried for all the war crimes committed in Ukraine.”

The participants have also emphasised the importance of disseminating true information about Russia’s war against Ukraine and the role that everyone plays in this information war. David Lisnard, Mayor of Cannes (France), President of the Association of Mayors of France, pointed out that “there is a great communications battle going on and we are all involved in it!”

Summing up, Oleksiy Chernyshov made an appeal to his European peers to suspend/sever relations with Russian partner cities as well. Today, Russia must feel to the full extent the isolation and condemnation of the bloody war it has unleashed and continues to wage, and local governments must be clearly heard on this.

Ukrainian mayors will make similar appeals to their peers from other countries. As part of the international online marathon, another event has already been scheduled for 29 March — a dialogue between representatives of Ukrainian local self-government and municipalities from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden.

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A video stream of the event is available at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1317289215419730

For more information please contact popiukrd@minregion.gov.ua

Official Telegram channel (English version) covering the war is available at https://t.me/UA_struggle

Photo gallery is accessible at https://decentralization.ua/news/tag/foto-viiny

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Recall that the International Marathon was initiated by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, the Council of Europe Programme “Enhancing Decentralization and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine,” USAID Economic Resilience Activity, the Association of Ukrainian Cities, the Association of Amalgamated Hromadas, and the Decentralization Portal.