The deal was signed by Rzeszów Mayor Konrad Fijołek and Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin in the Polish city on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Dubbed a “hero city,” Konotop is located 250 kilometres from the capital Kyiv and was under Russian occupation for over a month in the early stages of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the PAP news agency reported.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion in February last year, the population of war-ravaged Konotop, in Ukraine's Sumy region, has dwindled from 89,000 to 62,000, according to officials.
Rzeszów helps Ukrainian cities
Konotop is among some 40 Ukrainian cities which have been receiving humanitarian aid from Poland’s Rzeszów, hailed as a “rescuer city” by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Konotop has now become the sixth Ukrainian partner city of Rzeszów, which is the capital of Poland's Podkarpackie province, the Rzeszów News website reported.
Earlier, Rzeszów had struck partnership agreements with Lviv, Chernihiv, Truskavets, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, according to officials.
Rzeszów and Konotop seek to continue their cooperation after the war, mainly in municipal engineering, the PAP news agency reported.
Kamil Czyż, a senior official at Rzeszów City Hall, said: “We see a big role for Rzeszów in the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
He added: “Work is under way to ensure that companies taking part in the rebuilding of Ukraine are headquartered in Rzeszów.”
‘We’ve felt your help and support from the start’: Konotop mayor
Konotop’s mayor thanked Rzeszów’s councillors for voting through the partnership agreement.
Semenikhin said: “We’ve felt your help and support practically from the start of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.”
He added: “Konotop is a holy city for every Ukrainian and every Pole. In 1659, the joint forces of Ukrainian Cossacks, Poles and Turks destroyed Moscow's army.”
The mayor also said that his city "is a model for a joint victory.”
Semenikhin declared: “We are going to rebuild the country together. If a similar situation happens in Poland, God forbid, then every Ukrainian will help you fight the enemy, sparing no blood and standing ready to sacrifice their life.”
“Friendship entails working together, it’s our duty,” Konotop’s mayor told reporters in Rzeszów, as quoted by the PAP news agency.
Last month, Ukraine’s President Zelensky awarded honours to the mayors of Poland’s eastern cities, including Rzeszów’s Konrad Fijołek, for their support for Ukraine and its people amid the Russian invasion.
Wednesday is day 455 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Rzeszów News
