Darien To Explore Sister City Relationship In Ukraine

DARIEN, CT — As the Russia-Ukraine war rages on, the town of Darien is exploring the establishment of a sister city relationship to benefit the people of Sloviansk, a city in the northern part of the Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.

First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky said during Monday's Board of Selectmen meeting the idea of exploring a sister city relationship came from his visit to the Hartford area in March, where Gov. Ned Lamont held a news conference on a sister state agreement between Connecticut and the province of Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine. Monday's meeting is available to watch on demand on DarienTV.

The agreement was facilitated by Ukraine Aid International, a nonprofit organization that connects communities through humanitarian aid.

"What was interesting was that they all had a Zoom link with officials from that [province] in Ukraine live, and these guys were pretty close to the front line there. It makes you think about our problems and how they pale in comparison to those poor people there," Zagrodzky said. "It was a very impressive discussion. These officials were, I thought, quite courageous, and I was impressed with the organization in terms of the work they're doing and had a chance to talk with some of their officials afterwards."

Zagrodzky said Darien's potential sister city, Sloviansk, once had a population of about 140,000 people. That number, however, was reduced to around 22,000 at the height of the war, and it has now rebounded to 40,000 to 50,000 people.

The province of Donetsk Oblast was invaded by Russian forces in 2022 and has been the site of heavy fighting by the Russian military.

Should Darien pursue the sister city relationship with Sloviansk, Ukraine Aid International would provide a memorandum of understanding for Zagrodzky to sign.

A key component of these relationships is fundraising to help Ukrainians in need.

"This does not involve any town expenditures," Zagrodzky noted. "When they set up the sister city partnerships, what happens is it gives us the chance to go out and publicize that and have the citizens in the town contribute to some of the things these organizations do."

Donations would go toward providing Ukrainians with essentials like clean water, generators, first aid kits, tourniquets, heating and cold winter supplies.

"By doing this, we'll be able to partner with them effectively and not expend town resources in the process," Zagrodzky said.

Several towns in Connecticut have sister city relationships, including Easton, Greenwich, Ridgefield and Westport.

"Several other towns have done this to great success, and I think it's a good idea," Zagrodzky said.

Former Easton First Selectman David Bindelglass and former Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker visited their sister cities in 2023.

There is another opportunity for officials to travel to Ukraine in May, and Zagrodzky said he's considering taking the trip.

The Board of Selectmen did not take any action on Monday, and Zagrodzky said he'd share updates in the future.

Zagrodzky said he could enact the sister city relationship himself since it does not involve town expenditures, but he wanted to bring it to his colleagues for feedback.

"I think it's a wonderful endeavor to be involved in and totally appropriate," Selectman Michael Burke said. "One of my best friends from growing up has gone and volunteered over there. It's really an incredibly important effort, and I think it would be great for us to create a forum for people to participate."