Embattled Ukrainian city may twin with Shrewsbury
The town council is looking into the possibility of twinning with Okhtyrka as a show of support.
**Embattled Ukrainian city may twin with Shrewsbury**
Okhtyrka, in north-east Ukraine, is home to 47,000 people
Shrewsbury could be twinned with a Ukrainian city that has been badly affected by the war.
Okhtyrka lies a little more than 200 miles (322km) from the Russian border and has faced heavy fighting, artillery fire and air strikes, although it has never been occupied.
Labour councillor Rosemary Dartnall proposed the twinning idea at a town council meeting, and it was agreed that the proposal would be explored.
She said trips to the city may not be possible right now, but that it would be "an act of friendship and support for those in Okhtyrka at a time of unimaginable crisis".
Shrewsbury was previously twinned with Zutphen in the Netherlands from 1977 to 2018, but that link ended because of budget pressures and a review of agreements.
Okhtyrka, in north-east Ukraine, has about 47,000 residents and was given the honorary title of Hero City of Ukraine in March 2022.
Dartnall said the idea occurred to her because one of her constituents, Mila Prysyazhna, is Ukrainian and runs a charity called Shropshire Supports Ukraine.
She said: "Mila has a contact, Andrii Brynchak, a priest from Lviv – a city in the safest part of Ukraine, who moved his family to help those living in Okhtyrka.
"He has remained there since."
Dartnall said people in Shrewsbury had already shown generosity to Ukrainians by sending aid to the country and housing refugees.
"With the ongoing war in Ukraine, twinning with with a town on the front line seems like a suitable focus for our citizens," she said.
A cross-party working group will report back on the idea on 7 December.