The administration has submitted a corresponding resolution proposal to the Bonn City Council for the meeting on February 9, 2023. "The establishment of a partnership with Kherson is an expression of solidarity in action," says Mayor Katja Dörner of Bonn. "It is particularly important for us to involve the people of Bonn in shaping the partnership."
In a letter sent to the city of Kherson shortly before Christmas via the Ukrainian Consulate General in North Rhine-Westphalia in mid-January, the city wrote to the Mayor of Bonn asking for support and expressing its desire to establish twinning relations. "As a German city of the United Nations that stands up for democracy, freedom and the rule of law in the world in European and international city networks, we would like to comply with this request," emphasizes Katja Dörner.
The resolution also makes it possible to apply for funding for municipal reconstruction programmes and to continue supporting the work of the many people, organizations and institutions providing aid for Ukraine in Bonn.
Background
The southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, with around 290,000 inhabitants (as of 2021), was subjected to heavy fighting right at the start of Russia's war of aggression and was captured by the Russian military in March 2022. Thousands of people fled Kherson as a result. In September 2022, the Ukrainian military launched a counter-offensive - and succeeded in liberating the city from Russian occupation. The Russian attack led to severe destruction of infrastructure such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals and energy supplies. Kherson is currently under military administration.
At their meeting in Kiev on October 25, 2022, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky adopted a joint appeal to establish German-Ukrainian partnerships.