Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Mayors Ben Walsh of Syracuse and Oleksandr Markushyn of Irpin, Ukraine proclaimed their respective cities as official “sister cities” on Friday.

“The city of Syracuse looks to support the people of Irpin through their recovery, and to seek opportunities for cultural exchanges in collaboration on economic development and shared prosperity,” Walsh said on Friday.

As Irpin’s sister city, Syracuse will provide support as the Ukrainian city focuses on rebuilding post-occupation by Russian forces. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, the damage in Irpin totals to approximately $54 billion as of December 2022, with a total of 149,300 residential buildings destroyed.

Irpin, located in northern Ukraine about 30 minutes outside of Kyiv, was one of the first cities Russia captured after invading Ukraine in February 2022. Irpin was later liberated in March 2022. Markushyn estimated for the BBC that the civilian death toll in Irpin from the Russian occupation to be 200-300 people.

Following Walsh and Markushyn’s Friday announcement, Markushyn delivered a lecture at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The Ukrainian Club at SU — which has led efforts to support Ukraine, including fundraising and a resources drive in April 2022 — is also working to support Irpin. As a university organization, the club is working to support other academic institutions as it goes about facilitating Syracuse’s partnership with Irpin.

Taras Colopelnic, president of SU’s Ukrainian Club, said the club will be holding a social media fundraiser dedicated to rebuilding schools in Irpin.

“We do hope to directly be able to help financially, but hopefully as well in the future, this connection will hopefully as well bring our university and the academic institutions in Irpin together,” Colopelnic said.

Today, Syracuse and Irpin, Ukraine became sister cities. The declaration has been months in the making, but today, Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn visited our city to spend time with the Ukrainian population, visit sites like the Shevchenko monument and Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Eva’s Restaurant. Mayor Walsh and Mayor Markushyn sat side-by-side in Common Council Chambers this morning to exhange gifts and sign a Proclamation which made the Sister City Relationship official before heading outside for a public celebration filled with remarks from both Mayors, Consul General of Ukraine in New York Holubov Oleksii, Dr. Grennady Bratslavky–who brought the cities together–and Council President Hudson. Slava Ukraini!

A photo posted by syracuse1848

According to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, New York state has the U.S.’s highest population reporting Ukrainian ancestry. Central New York saw 780 Ukrainian arrivals in 2022, and over the course of the fiscal year, Ukraine was among the top seven countries represented by refugees who settled in New York.

Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said Syracuse and Onondaga County are “ready, willing and able” to accept Ukrainian refugees and help them resettle in a March 2022 letter addressed to President Joe Biden.

“Our community has long been home to a strong and proud Ukrainian community, joining New York State as home to the largest Ukrainian population in the United States,” Walsh and McMahon wrote in 2022. “This experience makes central New York an ideal location where Ukrainian citizens can find shelter on a short-term basis until they can return to their homes or settle permanently to be free of unjustified violence and war.”

In November of 2o22, New York state distributed over $20 million in federal funding to organizations working to resettle Ukrainian refugees, including Syracuse groups Interfaith Works of Central New York, Catholic Charities of Onondaga County and Immigrant Self-Empowerment. St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in downtown Syracuse also hosted events in support of Ukraine.

Walsh said Syracuse will be working with the foundation Ukraine 1991 to raise funds for rebuilding Irpin.

In a conversation with CNY Central, Markushyn said Irpin can learn from Syracuse as its partner and take things back to Ukraine.

“We are so hopeful that once the city gets rebuilt, we are able to send our children to school and to kindergartens and for them to play out in the yard and have fun. That’s what children should do, and that’s what we’re looking forward to in the future,” Markushyn said.

Published on April 17, 2023 at 2:10 am

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu