The aldermen of Luxembourg City on 12 November 2024 , including the mayors and other political representatives of the cities of Bucha, Lviv, Lyman and Skadovsk. Also present were the Luxembourg-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, Claude Radoux (honorary consul of Ukraine and member of the Luxembourg City municipal council), as well as representatives from the municipality of Strassen and the Ukrainescht Haus Stroossen.

Ahead of the that took place on 13 November, members of the Ukrainian delegation sat down with Paperjam to share their stories and what they hoped to gain from the visit to Luxembourg.

Bucha mayor: Ukraine is an attractive place to invest

Bucha is a city in Ukraine’s Kyiv Oblast that was occupied by Russian forces near the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian forces withdrew a few weeks later, and photographic and eyewitness evidence of the massacre of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners by Russian soldiers was collected after the city’s liberation.

Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk, one of the Ukrainian visitors to the grand duchy, emphasised his gratefulness for what the EU and Luxembourg are doing for Ukraine. “From the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Luxembourg government has showed their support and solidarity and started immediate help for the Ukrainian people,” he told Paperjam through a translator. “The collaboration between Luxembourg City and Kyiv City--the capital of Ukraine--is very high and improving every day.” Bucha also works together with the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank, added the mayor. The EIB, for instance, has helped in the city. “We are here today to establish a very good connection with the municipalities here in Luxembourg,” said Fedoruk.

Bucha has also worked on projects like the restoration of schools. “But today, we are here to talk about the multi-cluster hospital in Bucha city, as well as huge projects for the decentralisation of energy supply that will allow for sustainable power generation even during the war.” In the future, cooperation could include exchanging experiences on programmes like education and medical support. Ukraine is an attractive place to invest, said the mayor.

Superheroes at the Superhumans Center

Roman Taraban is 21 years old, and he’s missing part of his left leg. Aged 19 and a law student when the full-scale invasion began, Taraban signed up to serve his country and was sent to the frontline. In July 2022, he was severely injured by 122mm artillery and ended up with shrapnel in his leg. “The Russians used a dual location system to find us. I was a drone operator at that moment,” he explained. Roman was sent to the Kharkiv hospital in northeastern Ukraine, then to a hospital in Saarland, but “had a bad experience” in Germany, where he had to wait several months for analyses, diagnoses and operations. He heard about the Superhumans Center in Lviv and in June 2023 went to the specialist clinic to start his rehabilitation.

The centre is for members of the military, civilians and kids who have been injured during the war and provides its services for free, explained Zarina Maniakhyna from Superhumans. Opened in 2023 and with first lady Olena Zelenska and Ukraine’s healthcare minister Viktor Lyashko on its supervisory board, the centre focuses on a personalised approach to body reconstruction, prostheses, mental health and psychosocial support, reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation. Being able to do rehab in Ukraine--where people can be close to their families and benefit from their “huge support--makes it more productive, said Maniakhyna. “That’s why we are looking for funds to increase the opportunities of being able to provide this service for free for Ukrainians.” It gives people the chance to return to normality. Superhumans is currently present in Lviv in western Ukraine, but hopes to expand to Dnipro in the future.

Since going to the Superhumans Center, Taraban has been supported by experts in his psychological and physical rehab and has been fitted with a prosthesis. “When the Americans come to the Superhumans Center, they say it’s one of the best that they’ve seen in their life, the prosthesis,” he said. Taraban was fitted with the prothesis that he’s wearing during our chat two weeks ago. It’s a lot easier to wear and it doesn’t require as much effort to walk compared to the one he was using before, he tells me. “I made the record of how much I wear this: yesterday, it was 14 hours.”

Asked about what he wants people in Luxembourg to know, he replied: “The biggest problem in your life is when you’re dead.” Taraban lost his limb and a significant percentage of his muscle mass; at one point, his body weighed 25kg. But his resilience is unrelenting and his outlook is optimistic. “I’m finding my way. And I hope that people will not be disappointed in their lives.”

Education as a healing method

Mariana Mykolaychuk, professor in the psychology and psychotherapy department at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, and Oleksandr Galchinski, founder of a psychological rehabilitation centre, told Paperjam about their programme for veterans. “Our initiative is to create certified educational programmes to educate veterans to be a counsellor, supporter for their colleagues in terms of psychological support and basic physical rehabilitation.”

The veterans ministry does have initiatives in place, but they have “very short designs,” Mykolaychuk said. “Our point of view is to give the veterans deep knowledge and competencies.” The idea is that education could also be a “good healing method” for injured brains. “There is a huge amount of research that education is a possibility to maintain post-traumatic growth.”

“We hope to start [the programme] in February, and in the first iteration, we hope to have 20-30 people.” These ‘students’ would then be able to share what they’ve learned with their colleagues, leading to a ‘multiplication’ effect.

Looking for regional partners

The head of the investment department at the Poltava Regional Council, Olessia Drobodenko, was also present in Luxembourg. There are 60 communities in the region, which is located in central Ukraine, representing roughly 1.4m people. She was here in Luxembourg to talk about the region’s projects and experiences in different “spheres.”

“We hope to find partners, regional partners,” as part of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s victory plan, Drobodenko explained. Poltava has, for instance, expertise in the medical/rehabilitation sphere, the sectors of water, heating and energy, and experience with “smart regions.” They have, for example, a participatory budget project, where citizens can send in proposals for social projects. Part of the budget is allocated from the regional council and half from local governments--it’s a way to increase cooperation between municipalities, inhabitants and the government. A delegation from Poltava was also present at the Smart City Expo Congress in Barcelona in early November, she added, and she hoped to be able to exchange with potential partners in the grand duchy.

Mayor of an occupied city: Kherson region is Ukraine

Oleksandr Yakolev, the mayor of Skadovsk in the Kherson Oblast of Ukraine, sat down with Paperjam to share what was happening in his city. Skadovsk, a “beautiful city” on the Black Sea, is currently occupied by Russian forces, and Yakolev (who was kidnapped by Russia near the beginning of the full-scale invasion, then freed) and the rest of the city’s authorities now work at a distance from Lviv.

“Skadovsk has been occupied from the very first day of the invasion,” Yakolev told me through a translator. Residents were waiting for the city to be de-occupied, but it’s been two and a half years now, and people can no longer live in these conditions. Of the 18,000 people who lived in Skadovsk before the war, less than half remain, and many of them are elderly.

“Everything which goes on there now is according to the laws of Russia. There is total hate and aggression towards people who have Ukrainian views. In propaganda material, the Russians show how beautiful life is there, that everything is so nice, they are constructing, they are rebuilding the city. But in reality, we know there is no freedom, no rights and there is no life.” They occupy businesses, property, households--everything which is not “registered according to the laws of Russia.”

Yakolev now works from Lviv to support the inhabitants of Skadovsk. “It’s important that the educational system still continues working,” he said, offering an example. They support online distance learning for kids that left the city--including students from Skadovsk who are abroad. They also support veterans with transportation and social issues. A cultural centre and a museum dedicated to sharing stories about life under occupation are also planned for Lviv, the mayor explained. Even ordinary items take on a different meaning in an occupied area. A plastic dish, for example, would not just be for eating. “In the case of occupied territory, it can be a weapon.” A person using a cell phone to transfer information from occupied territories would be able to place the phone in the water-filled dish in order to get rid of any incriminating information that could lead to torture--or death.

What does he hope to gain from this visit to Luxembourg? “Last time, we came here with an art exhibition, which was called ‘Kherson region is Ukraine.’ And during this period, we agreed on cooperation with Strassen. Now this is the aim: we are looking for municipality-to-municipality, city-to-city cooperation.” Initially, a city in Turkey was meant to have an agreement with Skadovsk, but the Turkish ministry refused at the last moment because of the occupation. “We are very happy that Luxembourg still wants to cooperate, despite the fact that the city is occupied.”

‘We want to remain what we are’

“Your state has a wise and extremely relevant motto: ‘We want to remain what we are.’ And this is now perceived in a special way,” Ruslan Kulyk, head of the department of international cooperation and promotion of the region of the Ternopil regional council, told Paperjam. “The citizens of Ukraine cannot pass by these words. Because what are we fighting for? For what we are and the right to remain what we are--a free and independent country, open and united with all Europeans. We have been fighting for this right, this aspiration for a very long time. Much longer than Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. 19 November will be the 1,000th day of this war, the war that actually started back in 2014 [with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea], turning full-scale in 2022.”

“While many countries hesitated looking for excuses, you were among those who acted first and never stopped helping Ukraine. You have assisted us both in the defence sphere and humanitarian field. You supported sanctions against our enemy. And what is the most important, you showed an extremely warm attitude towards our citizens who found temporary refuge in Luxembourg... This help will never be forgotten by Ukraine.”

“Ternopil region is located in the geographical west of Ukraine. The development of market relations, democratic society and integration into the European community is the main vector of movement of our region. From the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, from 24 February 2022, Ternopil region became a reliable home front. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people have found here temporary residence. Dozens of relocated companies from eastern Ukraine continue to carry out their economic activities in Ternopil region. Medical help and rehabilitation assistance to the wounded is permanently provided in the region. That’s why the local communities are interested in improving medical equipment too.”

“Cooperation between Ukrainian cities and cities of other countries is extremely important right now, when Russia is destroying Ukrainian cities, destroying houses, medical facilities, social and medical infrastructure, and when help is desperately needed. That is why we are looking for partners among the municipalities of Luxembourg for the communities of the Ternopil region, in order to jointly attract European funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine, which will definitely win this war!”

No opportunity for “Ukraine fatigue”

“For us, as the Luxembourg-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, it was a great initiative of Strassen to make the [Bridges of Solidarity] forum to show the importance of social questions, of school, education, humanitarian aid,” LUCC president told Paperjam. It’s especially important, she said, because of “Ukraine fatigue.” The media is filled with other stories and many are not paying attention to Ukraine anymore. “But when you talk to people--you heard all these stories--when you hear the testimonies of people and how they live their lives every day, veterans, people who are from occupied territories, you understand that you just cannot stand behind. There is no opportunity to have this fatigue or to forget about Ukraine. We are grateful to the city of Luxembourg, who has shown solidarity from the very first day.”

A lot of the country is in ruins because of the war, but much of Ukraine is still running and has to absorb internally displaced people. It’s important to generate jobs and keep the economy working. “This is why we cannot wait for the day of victory,” said Paliy. “We need investments now. We do not need the [monetary] help. We need to have fishing equipment to get the fish.” If you give someone a fish, they’ll eat for a day, goes the Chinese proverb. Teach a person how to fish, they’ll eat for a lifetime. “This fishing equipment is the investments.”