Friendship with Chernihiv

I returned a week ago from a visit to the Chernihiv region of Ukraine. The starting point for this was the County Council’s decision in July to establish a programme of co-operation between Kent and Chernihiv. Following the Council resolution, I was invited by the Regional Administration in Chernihiv to visit to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the regions and to investigate a number of areas of cooperation.

I traveled with Jordan Meade, County Councillor for Gravesend East and Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities, who has worked closely with his local community to build links and supply humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and in particular to Chernihiv. 

The County Council resolution was clear that KCC’s role in this is a coordinating one, and that as something that is not core County Council activity this cannot be a call on Council resources in any material way. In that spirit, Jordan and I traveled at our own expense. 

Chernihiv region is to the north-east of Kyiv, and borders both Russia and Belarus. (The city itself is about 60 miles from the Russian border and somewhat closer to the Belarusian border). In the early weeks of the war, the region was invaded and the city encircled, though Russian forces were then repelled. The region remains subject to attacks and air alerts. 

We spent an intensive three days with the Regional Administration, led by the Governor Vyacheslav Chaus. Our visit covered areas such as health (the city’s cardiology unit was bombed during the attacks), school and university education, cultural institutions, the business community and emergency services. We also visited the village of Yahidne, which was the site of horrific abuses when occupied by Russian soldiers, with many villagers held in cramped conditions in a school basement for weeks, as well as a children’s library that was devastated by a missile attack.

The County Council resolution identified a number of priority areas in which the Council could facilitate (but not deliver directly) links between the regions: humanitarian support; economic development and business; heritage, tourism, sport, health and the natural environment; education, skills and language. Through our visit, we established connections to take these areas forward.

And some overall impressions? It was, as I reported to Council last week, an intense and unforgettable experience. One striking feature was the apparent normality of much day to day life - and what it takes to sustain this under war conditions (schools can deliver in person learning, but have bomb shelters to sustain that; people learn to live with an assess the risks of an attack). That normality, and some hope for the future are vital to sustaining the morale of a population that has now had to live with two and a half years of devastating war. Anything our co-operation agreement can do to help that seems to me to be very worthwhile.

You can find a KCC media release on the visit here.