Natalie Jaresko spoke with Ukrainian Mayors at the Bloomberg CityLab 2022
During the Bloomberg CityLab, Aspen Institute Kyiv Chairperson Natalie Jaresko spoke with Mayor of Bucha Anatoliy Fedoruk and Mayor of Lviv Andrii Sadovyi. Ukrainian Mayors spoke on challenges that Ukrainian cities faced with the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
At the beginning of the conversation, Ms. Jaresko stressed the immense challenges that the Ukrainian governance faced during that war: from how to organize national security, managing massive infrastructure damage to the resettlement of 7 million internally displaced people, sustaining an economy through all of the difficulties, ensuring food, energy, and other critical supplies as Ukraine enters winter.
Mayor of Bucha Anatoliy Fedoruk: For 33 days of Russian occupation of Bucha, over 400 civilian citizens were killed, and the majority of civilian infrastructure was destroyed
Bucha is a town about 30 kilometers northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which was under Russian occupation from March 4 to March 31. After the Russian troops’ withdrawal from the Kyiv region, the whole world was shocked by the news of the bloody war crimes that Russian soldiers committed in that place. The name “Bucha” became synonymous with the tragedy of thousands of lost civilian lives perpetrated by Russia. Since then, no one had a doubt: except for brutal territorial annexation, Russia wanted to commit a new genocide of the Ukrainian people (along with 3 Holodomors in 1921-1923 (up to 1 million deaths), 1932-1933 (4 – 10,5 million deaths), 1946-1947 (over 1 million deaths) and the Executed Renaissance ( over 30 thousand deaths).
Bucha’s Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk noticed that during the 33 days of Russian occupation of the town, more than 400 civilian citizens were killed, and the majority of Bucha’s civilian infrastructure was destroyed. Now, the town faces the challenges of a big trauma after the recent massacre, but at the same time, many citizens came back to their homes and tried to live out normal lives. He stressed that at present, the people’s spirits are kept up by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He stated the following at the international auditory of the Bloomberg CityLab 2022 summit:
“You may think that the war is far away in the Eastern part of Ukraine but if the Russian troops fully invaded Ukraine, they would try to expand their influence on other parts of Europe” – stressed Mayor Fedoruk.
Mayor of Lviv Andrii Sadovyi: During the war, Lviv accepted 5 million Ukrainian people who have since passed through the city
Lviv is a Western Ukrainian city close to the border with Poland – a neighboring country of Ukraine that opened its doors to more than 3 million Ukrainian refugees at the beginning of a full-scale invasion. During that time, Lviv became the main hub for temporarily displaced people who fled their homes to European countries. As the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi said, his city accepted more than 5 million people who have since passed through the city. Out of this, more than 30 thousand wounded people were among them that were helped by the city and its citizens.
At the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, Lviv had been considered a safe place. Many Ukrainians tried to relocate there. However as the war continued, Lviv became one of the targets of terroristic missile strikes perpetrated by Russia. The Bloomberg CityLab interview occurred on October 11. The day before, Russia committed the massive bombing of Ukrainian cities’ infrastructure and civilian objects with missiles and Iranian drones. Despite the catastrophe, Lviv remains a Ukrainian stronghold and continues its fight:
“Russia wants to destabilize and frighten us but it does not deter our will. We will be victorious on each part of our land” – emphasized the Mayor of Lviv.
