Talks aim to bring city's Ukraine link closer
A partnership between York and the Ukrainian city of Lviv has moved a step closer, following calls to complete a process which first got under way three years ago.
In April 2022, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, councillors in York approved the adoption of Lviv in western Ukraine as a "sister city".
But at a recent meeting, delays in implementing the link between the two cities was branded by opposition councillors as an "embarrassing failure".
However, it has since been confirmed that talks between City of York Council's Labour leader Claire Douglas and Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv, were due to be held, though the date had yet to be decided.
The completion of the "sisterhood" process would see both cities work together on culture, education, business and other areas, according to the Sister Cities International organisation.
Ukrainian embassy officials were understood to have met Douglas, as well as Katie Lomas, City of York Council's Labour finance and human rights spokesperson, earlier in April.
Douglas said she now looked forward to speaking to Lviv's mayor about how the two cities could work closer in the future.
"Our immediate focus is on continuing to demonstrate our solidarity with Ukraine," she explained.
"This includes offering practical support for our Ukrainian guests here in York, extending our heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the people of Ukraine - both those here in York, who are so far from their loved ones, and those in Ukraine who are bravely coping with the most unimaginable hardships."
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Lib Dem councillor Chris Cullwick had welcomed movement on the link between York and the Ukrainian city.
He said his party had "been pushing for stronger ties with Lviv since the full-scale invasion began", including tabling the original motion back in 2022 calling for a "formal sisterhood" between the two cities.
"We've repeatedly urged the administration to follow through, so it's good to see our efforts starting to bear fruit. We now want to see this momentum continue," Cullwick added.
Lviv has a population of just over 700,000 people and is situated about 70 miles (112km) away from the Polish border.
Its centre is a Unesco World Heritage Site and, like York, Lviv is designated a Unesco Creative City, recognised for its literary culture.
Since 2022, 416 Ukrainians have arrived and settled in York through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Row over 'embarrassing' delay to Ukraine link-up
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Before being deployed to Donetsk Oblast in the fall of 2024, they played a crucial role in bogging down Russia's surprise cross-border offensive on Kharkiv Oblast, headed for the city that the unit was formed to defend in the first place. Now, with Russian forces increasingly relying on waves of squad-level infantry attacks to overwhelm overstretched Ukrainian lines, their work is crucial in keeping key sectors stable. In conditions of an ever-deepening crisis in infantry strength across the Ukrainian military, it has become more important than ever to eliminate Russian assault groups with drones and artillery long before they reach Ukrainian positions. Over five days of the group's work near Pokrovsk in spring, according to Zalizniak, the Peaky Blinders stopped 106 enemy soldiers in their tracks; numbers higher than most entire specialized drone battalions in standard Ukrainian brigades, achieved by a team of only six in the field. 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