The Lexington/Ukraine Sister City Exploratory Committee announced Monday that Volodymyr Shmatko, mayor of the Ukrainian city of Chortkiv, his adviser Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, and American volunteer Volodymyr Didenko plan to visit Lexington next week, Feb. 9-13.
Chortkiv has been proposed to Lexington City Council as a candidate Sister City.
Chortkiv is a small city (population about 30,000) located in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine. The city’s rich history begins with a first recorded reference in 1427 and is reflected in many beautiful historic buildings,
, page 11 including wooden Ukrainian Orthodox churches from the 1500s and 1600s and Chortkiv Castle (1610). Chortkiv is home to the Professional College of Economics and Entrepreneurship of the West Ukrainian National University, and the hope is that institution and others in Chortkiv will develop innovative and rich partnerships with this area’s universities and high school, said a committee spokesperson.
Though Chortkiv is located away from the front lines, in 2022 a Russian missile strike destroyed several five-story buildings and damaged over 400 apartments. The city cares for over 3,000 internally displaced persons, including nearly a thousand children.
Mayor Shmatko’s leadership through this crisis has helped Chortkiv expand its portfolio of renewable and sustainable energy sources while Russia continues to target Ukraine’s power grid, said the committee spokesperson. Chortkiv is a leader in international partnerships with over a dozen partners throughout Europe.
Meetings, a welcome dinner, a downtown tour, and other activities are in the early planning stages for the mayor’s visit. The Sister City committee invites those who are interested in participating in the visit or the broader initiative to email Dan Pezzoni at gilespezzoni@rockbridge. net (mention Chortkiv in the subject line).
