In order to repair the damage caused by the war and the flood, Kherson urgently needs technical equipment. For this reason, the Federal City of Bonn is donating three decommissioned vehicles to its partner city: the fire department is providing a crew transport vehicle with eight seats, bonnorange AöR is providing a water truck with a capacity of 8,000 liters, which can be used both for cleaning streets and for transporting firefighting or drinking water, as well as a waste collection vehicle, in which around 20 cubic meters of waste can be transported.
OB Dörner: "Would like to support Kherson specifically"
"As part of our solidarity partnership, we would like to support Kherson specifically with what is particularly needed and required there, and that is technical equipment," emphasizes Mayor Katja Dörner when she takes a look at the three vehicles on Friday, July 8, together with bonnorange board member Richard Münz and fire department chief Jochen Stein on the premises of the fire department and Bonnorange on Lievelingsweg. "We are in a close, regular exchange with the city administration of Kherson and can thus help systematically. The three vehicles are a first step. More are to follow. And we are also supporting local people in other areas," says Katja Dörner.
"When we learned that there was a shortage of various trucks in Kherson, we immediately checked which vehicles we no longer needed would be suitable for further use in Kherson due to their technical condition. We are firmly convinced that the donation will provide practical and effective help to the people in Kherson," says Richard Münz.
Fire chief Jochen Stein added: "Today, we can already provide the fourth emergency vehicle of the fire and rescue service as a donation for Ukraine and hope to make a further contribution to overcoming the enormous challenges."
Vehicles are urgently needed
The vehicles are urgently needed in Kherson. The fire department's truck will be used to transport people, while the garbage truck and the cleaning truck will be used to remove flood damage. The transport to Kherson, Ukraine, will be carried out as quickly as possible with the financial and logistical support of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). It is expected that a forwarding agent will pick up the vehicles in the week beginning Monday, July 10.
In addition, the city is organizing the transport of two more vehicles within the project "Improving Civil Protection in Municipal Partnerships with Ukraine". This initiative is being implemented on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in cooperation with the German Association of Cities and Towns and the Service Agency Communities in One World of Engagement Global. The BMZ is covering the costs of vehicle procurement. The vehicles are expected to be ready for transfer to Ukraine in the second half of 2023.
Since Kherson has currently requested, among other things, further technical equipment such as computers or servers and building materials, the Bonn city administration is currently examining whether such a delivery is possible.
Concrete help via monetary donations
The donation project "Bonn helps Kherson", which was launched together with the aid organization "Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe" (Help for Self-Help), supports needy people with everyday goods and hospitals with medical products. By Thursday, July 6, a total of just under 60,000 euros had been received via the donation page https://www.bonn-hilft-cherson.de/ (opens in a new tab). Help is on site, provides emergency aid and ensures that the donations are used in a targeted manne
The city is calling for donations for the solidarity partner city via digital display boards in the city area. Up to and including July 6, "Bonn helps Kherson - you can help too!" could be read on so-called roadside, city and info screens at Bonn's main train station, Bad Godesberg train station, and in downtown Bonn and Bad Godesberg. The campaign on the info screens has now been extended again up to and including July 13.
Balance Donation in kind action
In addition to financial support, donations in kind are also needed in Kherson. The association Blau Gelbes Kreuz (BGK), based in Cologne and with an offshoot in Bonn, therefore launched a corresponding campaign. In coordination with BGK, Help e.V. and the city of Bonn, the Zentrallager Sachspenden Bonn (ZeSaBo) collected donations in kind up to and including June 30. Among other things, technical equipment and tools, office equipment, medical products and hygiene articles were handed in. Since March 2022, ZeSaBo has also been providing daily necessities free of charge to refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Bonn and the surrounding area. The BGK will organize the collection and transport of the donations in kind to Kherson. The ZeSaBo has published an overview of the donated items on the Internet: https://www.zesabo.de/sachspenden/cherson.html (opens in a new tab)
As part of the "Emergency Aid for Ukraine" project, BGK continues to collect donations for the victims of the broken Kakhovka dam. Information on the fundraising campaign is available here. "As a German-Ukrainian association, we already work with several municipalities in NRW within the framework of municipal partnerships with Ukraine. The cooperation with Bonn and Kherson is particularly important for us, as Bonn's twin city is suffering especially from the consequences of the terrible war of aggression," says Tamara Vukovic, a native of Kherson, who has lived in Bonn for many years and volunteers with BGK.
Tapestry as a sign of solidarity
During the week, Bonn's mayor Katja Dörner had a conversation in the Old Town Hall with Tetyana Linetska from Kherson, who found refuge in Bonn with her children and parents in March 2022. She is involved in the Ukrainian community in many ways and, among other things, organized the charity concert "Voice of Kherson" in the parish "St. Helena" at the end of June.
Tetyana Linetska presented a tapestry on behalf of the Chairman of the Kherson Region Regional Council, Oleksandr Samoilenko. This carpet was designed by children of the Art Lyceum of the Kherson region. Before the war, several of these carpets hung as wall decorations in municipal administrative buildings. During the Russian occupation all the tapestries, except two, were removed or taken away by the occupiers. One of the two remaining tapestries was now presented to Mayor Dörner as a sign of the bond to the city of Bonn.
Translated with deepl.com (free version)