“Ukraine in the face of war”. Panel discussion, held during the 8th European Congress of Local Governments

After the outbreak of the war, the vast majority of Ukrainian local government officials remained in their towns and villages, defending their small homeland. Local authorities of the occupied territories were forced to leave in order to coordinate the provision of assistance and the activities of municipal services. The local government has shown remarkable resilience in maintaining the functioning of critical infrastructure and resisting the Russians.

If it were not for local governments, Ukraine certainly could not defend itself so well against the Russian invasion. And decentralization is useful not only for improving the quality of public services, but in the case of Ukraine – for the defense and reconstruction of the country. Local governments have the best access to information about the status of cases in their area and are best able to identify needs and allocate resources. In addition, they contact each other to learn about the most important needs and, as far as possible, help each other. How do Ukrainian local government officials manage to coordinate actions during the war? And what future awaits the destroyed Ukrainian cities? These questions were answered by the participants of the debate “Ukraine in the face of war”, which took place as part of this year’s European Congress of Local Governments in Mikołajki. The debate was moderated by Sergiy Zamidra – Deputy Chairman of the National Association of Local Government Units of Ukraine.

The first to speak was Yuriy Bova – mayor of Trostianets, which was occupied by the Russians at the beginning of the war. The city of 20,000 inhabitants was recaptured from the occupiers on March 26, 2022, and its reconstruction continues to this day. Regardless of the fact that the city is located near the Russian border, the authorities are working to ensure that its residents can return to their homes as soon as possible. In mayor’s opinion, it is extremely important to show people that their cities are coming back to life and embody hope for a return to normality. The city has already rebuilt a destroyed hospital, school, factories and enterprises. All this was done without the participation of large organizations. Assistance to the city is provided by local companies and foreign partners.

Oleksandr Yakovlev, whose city of Skadovsk, located on the shore of the Black Sea, is still under Russian occupation, also shared his experience. Some of the inhabitants of his city managed to leave, the rest lives under constant pressure. Residents of the city, whom the occupiers suspect of pro-ukrainian activity, are detained and tortured. The rest is forced to obtain Russian documents and permits, which according to the constitution of Ukraine is considered collaboration. Therefore, the city authorities try to maintain contact with residents and fulfill their functions where possible, including paying salaries for municipal services and social payments. In addition, remote classes are conducted for children.

The speech of the Vice-Mayor of Bucha Serhiy Shepetko was extremely moving. His city became one of the symbols of Russian war crimes. Residents fell victim to shelling, arbitrary executions and other crimes against the civilians. Serhiy Shepetko spoke about how the city experienced those terrible days, and about the price that his colleagues – city council officials – had to pay. In the second part of the speech, Sergiy Shepetko told about the first months after the release and work on the reconstruction of the city, particulary its energy and municipal infrastructure. Not only partner cities from abroad joined the help – other Ukrainian cities – Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, various international foundations – took an active part in the reconstruction. Currently, the city is rebuilt at 40%, thanks to which some residents have already returned to their homes. At the end, Sergiy Shepetko thanked the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who are preventing the repetition of the massacre that took place in Bucha in other Ukrainian cities.

The last speaker was the mayor of Konotop, Artem Semenikhin. His city is located in north-eastern Ukraine, in Sumy region, 250 km from Kyiv. Artem Semenikhin became mayor in 2015, after returning from the front in Donbas. After taking office, he began active activity to fight against the communist and Russian past and traditions, thanks to which in 2022 its inhabitants unequivocally spoke out for resisting the Russians even after the occupation of the city and showed extraordinary solidarity that helped to avoid casualties and destruction. Konotop was deoccupied in April last year, but like other cities – it is still being rebuilt today, and great help is provided by other cities, including Warsaw.

At the end of the debate, Ukrainian local government officials gave some advice to their colleagues, among whom they mentioned the development of digitization, which helps to maintain contact and control over matters even in crisis situations, an efficient territorial defense system, changes in legislation, decentralization and effective legislation.