Twinning association provides 10 000 euros in donations for the maintenance of infrastructure in Ivano-Frankivsk Verangstadt of Trakai mediatesdonation
RHEINE/TRAKAI. The call for help was as unusual as it was urgent: The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk has asked the Lithuanian twin city of Trakai to help with the procurement of bullet-proof vests. The reason: the employees of the city administration of Ivano-Frankivsk, who work in securing critical infrastructure, need this protection. Russian missiles had already hit the city of 230000 inhabitants in the west of Ukraine. Bus drivers are not the only ones traveling under constant threat to their lives.
The call for help reached the town twinning association Rheine by telephone during the discussion series “friends of the town twinning” on Wednesday in the coffee house at the Bönekerskapelle. The Trakai city administration, to which the people of Rheine had offered financial support for their Ukrainian twin towns, specifically asked whether donations could also be made available for these bulletproof vests.
“The board vote was very quick. On the same day, we transferred 10000 euros to our Lithuanian partners. With this, 50 of these vests can now be purchased for self-protection,” said Reiner Wellmann, chairman of the Rheine Town Twinning Association. At first, the call for help had made people a bit puzzled, because relief supplies are usually understood to mean medicines, food, power banks, flashlights or supplies for injured and sick people. “But from the very beginning, we proceeded according to the motto that the people on the ground can best decide what help is really urgent at the moment. That’s why we called for a donation campaign,” Wellmann continues.
The response from Trakai was immediate: “Thank you, thank you, thank you. We will buy bulletproof vests and other products for Ivano-Frankivsk tomorrow,” the office of Mayor Andrius Satevicius announced. And so, at the moment, the transport of protective vests from Lithuania to Western Ukraine is on its way.
The twinning association expresses its sincere thanks to all the donors who have so far provided about 21000 euros. Last week, the twinning association had already transferred 5000 euros to Trakai. With it medicines were bought, which are brought likewise up-to-date into a military hospital to Luzk. Many wounded civilians are also treated there. Photo: Tagesschau
Donations are still urgently needed. The twinning association ensures targeted and rapid assistance in Ukraine through its contacts to Trakai.
Donation account: IBAN DE 65 4935 0005 0000 0642 53 at the Stadtsparkasse Rheine. Keyword: Donation campaign Ukraine. If you would like a donation receipt, please include your address with the transfer.