February 24, 2024 marks the second anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine. To this day, the Ukrainian people are still fighting back against the Russian attackers with great courage and the will to survive. According to the UN, the war has cost the lives of more than 10,000 people so far, and around 20,000 civilians, including almost 1,300 children, have been injured - and these are just the confirmed victims. Presumably many more people are affected. The war has also caused an immense exodus of refugees. At the beginning of February 2024, around six million refugees from Ukraine were registered in European countries. Alongside Poland, Germany has taken in the most people: More than one million refugees were registered in February 2024. Many people have also come to Bonn, around 5,000 since the start of the war.
"For the second time, we have to mark this sad anniversary, commemorating the start of Russia's terrible war of aggression against Ukraine. The people there are paying a high price for the fight for their freedom and independence. They are also defending our European values. It must therefore be a matter of course to show solidarity with the people in Ukraine and to help wherever we can," says Mayor Katja Dörner.
Care for the refugees
Many of the around 5,000 Ukrainians who came to Bonn were housed privately. The city of Bonn has accommodated a total of 2,789 refugees. Currently (as of February 15, 2024), 1,254 people are still housed. Of these, 718 are in municipal accommodation, 301 in apartments rented by the city, 130 privately and 105 in hotels.
After an initial contact point for Ukrainian refugees was set up in Bonn-Buschdorf at very short notice in summer 2022, the social administration is now setting up the former Albertus-Magnus-Haus retirement home in Beuel-Pützchen as a further development. This will enable the administration to provide better care and support for the increasing number of people arriving in Bonn who require medical and/or nursing treatment. The Albertus-Magnus-Haus is barrier-free and existing care beds can be used. Operations are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2024.
Great support from initiatives, communities and associations
"Right from the start, there was a great deal of civil society commitment to supporting the refugees, which I am very happy about," said the mayor. "Without the immense support from integration institutions, associations, church communities and numerous volunteers who are working together with the city administration to help the refugees, we would not have been able to cope with the many tasks so well. I would like to thank all these people from the bottom of my heart!"
In addition to the very personal help for the refugees, benefit concerts, a fundraising campaign at the end of the Beethoven Festival, the "Ukraine Day" at the Art Museum, a "Help" information stand at the Bonn Festival and fundraising runs at two Bonn schools are just a few examples of the commitment of Bonn residents and institutions in the city.
Various rallies and solidarity events are planned for the anniversary on Saturday, February 24, 2024. For example, information stands and actions from 12 noon to 3 p.m. on Münsterplatz under the motto "Also for your freedom", where "Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe" will also be represented. The "Stand with Ukraine" rally, organized by "Ukrainische Studierende an der Uni Bonn", "Ukrainer in Bonn" and "UA Welle Bonn", will take place on the market square at 6 pm.
Start of the solidarity partnership
On February 9, 2023, the Bonn City Council decided to establish a solidarity partnership with Kherson. This was preceded by an official request from Kherson, which reached the Bonn city administration via the Ukrainian Consulate General in January 2023. The partnership focuses on providing humanitarian support to the people of Kherson and helping to rebuild local administrative structures.
With the support of the Bonn-based aid organization "Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe", the Federal City of Bonn has launched the donation project "Bonn hilft Cherson" as part of its solidarity partnership with the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Help supports the Federal City of Bonn with the restoration of basic medical care in the city of Kherson, procuring medicines and medical equipment. In particular, the children's hospital in Kherson is being supported, for example with an incubator for newborns and an X-ray machine. In addition, Help initiated emergency aid measures in the region immediately after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam at the beginning of June 2023 and the subsequent flood disaster.
A total of 157,000 euros in donations has been received so far. Help itself has provided a further 100,000 euros from its own funds for the donation partnership. Further donations are very welcome, all information on https://www.bonn-hilft-cherson.de/ (opens in a new tab)
Bianca Kaltschmitt, Managing Director of "Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe": "We would like to express our heartfelt thanks for the great willingness of the people of Bonn to donate! Thanks to their support, we were able to provide the people in Kherson with medical equipment and will continue to provide help in the current year. Finally, a big thank you on behalf of our Ukrainian colleagues, who keep telling us how much the solidarity from Bonn means to the local people. They will not be forgotten!" As part of an event to mark the anniversary, the aid organization will be informing interested Bonn residents at a stand on Münsterplatz on Saturday from 12 noon.
Vehicles, computers, medicines and hygiene products
It was only at the end of January 2024 that the city of Bonn handed over a flatbed truck to the German-Ukrainian association "Blue-Yellow Cross". The Cologne-based association, which now also has a branch in Bonn, was responsible for transporting the vehicle to Ukraine. The vehicle was organized as part of the project "Improving civil protection in municipal partnerships with Ukraine". The project is being implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The city of Bonn is also participating in the project, thereby supplementing its existing solidarity partnership with Kherson. A tipper truck with crane is another vehicle that is being organized through this project and is also expected to be brought to Ukraine by the "Blue-Yellow Cross" association in the spring.
he city of Bonn and the municipal waste disposal company Bonnorange delivered three vehicles to Kherson in the summer of 2023: a crew transport vehicle for the Bonn fire department, a street cleaning vehicle and a waste collection vehicle.
In cooperation with the "ZeSaBo" central warehouse for donations in kind, technical equipment and tools, office equipment, medical products and hygiene articles were collected and brought to Ukraine after the dam burst. The city of Bonn also donated 144 computers for the Kherson city administration.
Delegation from Kherson comes to visit
A delegation from Kherson is now visiting the federal city of Bonn for the first time. In addition to the Deputy Mayor of the city, Vitalii Bielobrov, Tetiana Banshchykova, Head of the Department for International and Intermunicipal Cooperation of the City of Kherson, Vladyslav Kondratov, Chairman of the District Council of the Dnipro District in Kherson, and Nataliia Kraska, Head of the Department for Combating and Preventing Domestic and Gender-based Violence, are coming to Bonn. An extensive program of visits awaits the group, for example to Stadtwerke, Bonnorange, the Bonn fire department, IHK, Digitalhub and the Beethovenhaus. The highlight of the visit is the signing of the declaration of intent for further and intensive cooperation as part of the solidarity partnership on Monday, February 26, 2024, in the evening in the Old Town Hall. Prior to this, the guests will meet at a round table with representatives from politics, city administration, business and civil society to discuss the goals and prospects of the partnership.
From the anniversary of the start of the war on Saturday, February 24, 2024, until the delegation's departure on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, the flag of Ukraine will be raised in front of the Old Town Hall.
Concert in the Chamber Music Hall in honor of the delegation
To mark the visit of the delegation and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the City of Bonn, the Beethoven-Haus Bonn and the German-Ukrainian Association "Blue-Yellow Cross Bonn" are inviting you to a Ukraine concert in the chamber music hall of the Beethoven-Haus. On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 6 pm, works for violin and piano by Oleksandr Gonobolin, Jules Massenet and Johann Sebastian Bach as well as piano works by Serhij Bortkevich and Mykola Kapustin and musical arrangements for trio on poems by the Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko will be performed.
The concert will be followed by a reception in the foyer. Admission is free, but donations are requested to support social projects to protect the victims of violence by Russian occupiers in Kherson. Seats are still available for interested citizens. If you would like to attend, please register via this Link (opens in a new tab).
About Kherson
The southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, with around 290,000 inhabitants (as of 2021), was under heavy fire right at the start of the fighting. The Russian military captured it in March 2022. Tens of thousands of people fled Kherson as a result. In September 2022, the Ukrainian military launched a counter-offensive - and succeeded in liberating the city from Russian occupation. The fighting led to severe destruction, including numerous civilian buildings as well as infrastructure such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals and energy supplies. Due to its close proximity to the front line, Kherson continues to come under fire on a daily basis. Kherson is currently under military administration. Around 50,000 inhabitants are still there, including many sick and elderly people.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)