Daniel Nevaril says he’s heard that some are now packing their bags, that the internet is still working in Kharkiv, but television isn’t. That queues formed at gas stations and ATMs were “empty”. It is devastating news that Nevaril reached in Nuremberg on Thursday. He is responsible for the town twinning with Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. After the attacks by Russia early Thursday morning, like many others, he is worried about his friends and colleagues. He found out about “explosions in the distance” from two teachers via Whatsapp.
Since 1990, Nuremberg has maintained a friendship with Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, in the local town hall and in the “Nürnberger Haus” cultural center. And Nuremberg finances a soup kitchen, supports the care of sick children, people visit each other. And the next exchange is actually planned for the summer, when Kharkiv students are supposed to meet with German students from the art academy.
Nevaril says he won’t keep asking Kharkiv how things are going, people have other things to do than give their partners in Germany an up-to-date picture of the situation. And this despite the fact that they tried something like normality the day before. His colleagues from Kharkiv City Hall are still in the restaurant for lunch, and friends recently celebrated a rave. He, too, was only in Kiev and Kharkiv for work at the end of 2021. The fact that everyday life there has come to a brutal end, at least for the time being, is also difficult for him to bear.
Nuremberg’s Mayor Marcus König (CSU) condemns Putin’s “inhuman behavior” and offers Kharkiv his city’s help. (archive image)
(Photo: Nicolas Armer/dpa)
Nuremberg’s Lord Mayor Marcus König (CSU) reacted promptly on Thursday morning Twitterthat he “abhors” Putin’s “deeply inhuman behavior” and that they are now considering how Nuremberg could help Kharkiv, he brings up an appeal for donations. Collecting donations, says Nevaril, is an obvious choice, and the people of Nuremberg are very willing. For days people have been asking by phone or email how they could help. But it is too early for concrete help, the situation is too chaotic. As long as possible, transfers are conceivable, but clothes for a modern city like Kharkiv are probably not necessary. On Thursday afternoon, the city will activate a donation account.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Regensburg, Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer (SPD), is writing emotional letter to her counterpart in Odessa, southern Ukraine, Gennadiy Trukhanov. A city hall spokeswoman says there was no direct contact, at least until noon, and Maltz-Schwarzfischer wrote almost helpless lines to him.
In the morning hours it became clear that Odessa had also been hit. “Now the unbelievable has happened,” she assures him of all her solidarity, Trukhanov can contact him at any time, by phone or video, she offers to deliver aid or to take in war refugees. The partnership with the port city of Odessa has also existed since 1990. In September, Maltz-Schwarzfischer unveiled a symbol of friendship with Trukhanov, as is customary, an Odessa anchor in Regensburg.
The day before the massive attacks, Memmingen’s mayor made a video call to his counterpart in the Ukrainian twin town of Chernihiv, Vladyslav Atroshenko.
(Photo: City of Memmingen/oh)
In Memmingen, Mayor Manfred Schilder (CSU) made a video call on Wednesday around 4 p.m. with his counterpart Vladyslav Atroshenko in the twin town of Chernihiv in the north of the country. Atroshenko was in a hurry and tense, a city spokeswoman said. The mayor announced that Atroshenko had warned that “the situation is more critical than ever”. On Thursday afternoon, they tried to find out whether the city had been hit.
In Nuremberg, a leading employee of the Kharkiv town twinning reports that a child was dead and someone was wounded by shells just outside of Kharkiv. Her colleague Nevaril is stubbornly optimistic despite all the bad news. He plans to continue the students’ journey to the art academy, he says. He takes care of the hotel bookings.