Ukraine: Fife twin town sends support as country fears Russian attack

Newport-on-Tay is one of a handful of towns across the UK to have a formal twinning link with somewhere in the eastern European country, and it is the small village of Zolotarevo in the west of Ukraine which has had a blossoming relationship with its Fife counterpart for almost 20 years.

With 190,000 Russian troops building up on the border, Fife councillor Tim Brett, who chairs the twinning group, has fond memories of a visit to Zolotarevo in 2010 and can only imagine the uncertainty people in the country are feeling.

“As far as we know, there are only eight twinning links with somewhere in Ukraine, of which we are one,” he explained.

“It’s not the typical twinning arrangement you would find, with somewhere like a wine-growing region of France, but a really strong relationship has been built up over the years and we’re very proud of it.

“I went out there in 2010 to visit and the people there were incredibly hospitable and welcoming and were very keen to develop further links with the west and encourage their children to speak English.

“It was a very unusual visit but a very enjoyable one. The community is much poorer than we are.

"The thing that struck me was that many of the parents were working away in other parts of Europe and a lot of responsibility was with the grandparents.

“The hospitality is just amazing - we were shown round the village and every house we went to had put on a different meal for us, so they really do value the links they have with us.

“Over the years people have stayed with families and people in Newport, so Newport is thinking about them as the situation in Ukraine unfolds.

“I believe the threat from Russia is in the east of Ukraine and although Zolotarevo is further west, it clearly is a very worrying time for everyone and our thoughts are with them.”

The two places, on the face of it, don’t have too much in common, albeit their populations are not too dissimilar.

Newport-on-Tay, established near the endpoint of one part of a ferry route that itself was started in the 12th century, has grown into something of a commuter suburb of Dundee, with prosperous jute manufacturers, industrialists and the middle and upper working classes of Dundee deciding to move over the Tay to establish fashionable residences in Newport.

Zolotarevo, meanwhile, is in the rural Transcarpathian region in the western Ukraine and has endured a much more turbulent history, finding itself part of many different countries over the last two centuries and latterly part of the USSR until it gained its independence as part of Ukraine in 1991.

Yet fate seemed to bring the two communities together.

At the turn of the millennium, the Newport-on-Tay Ecumenical Group wanted to invite a group of children and adults from a country in eastern Europe for a two-week holiday in Newport, with the late Kinnear Baxter consulting with the late Alex Reid and retired Dundee University lecturer David Anderson over the prospect.

At the same time, Ann Patskan, who taught English at the school in Zolotarevo, was looking for a link with a school in the west.

She spoke to her cousin Svitlana Slava, who worked at the University of Uzhgorod in Ukraine, and had contact via student visits with Mr Anderson.

The rest, they say, is history, with 24 young people and their teachers staying with families in Newport-on-Tay in July 2000 and going out on daily trips around Fife to discover first hand Scottish culture and the way of life.

SInce then, it has been very much a two-way twinning relationship, and the bonds between the two settlements have only been strengthened in the last few weeks in the face of apparent Russian aggression.

Once news of the Russian troop build-up broke, Marian Heredia, who has been involved with the Newport and Zolotarevo Twinning Association for many years, wrote to the people of Zolotarevo to let them know Fifers were thinking about them.

“Your friends in Scotland wish you to know that our thoughts and sympathies are with you in Zolotarevo at this time of anxiety and concern for Ukraine and your people,” she wrote.

“We hope that through wise counsel and good diplomacy there will be a better understanding between all concerned and that peace will prevail.

“Unfortunately, opportunities for mutual visits between Newport and Zolotarevo have been few in recent years.

“Despite this, our fellow feeling remains and with that our hopes for a peaceful future and greater international co-operation and understanding.”

Ms Patskan has since replied and passed on the Zolotarevo community’s gratitude.

“I would like to express a great pleasure that you send the words of support to the people of Zolotarevo,” she said.

“Nowadays, when the whole world is concerned about Ukraine’s movement toward the democratic world, your support is of a great importance to us.

“We have chosen the way of economical, social and political values that most of the countries and Great Britain especially already have.

“I have spoken to our headmaster and she appreciated the proposal to renew our cooperation with the Newport Twinning Association.

“We can do it with the priority of school and for school.

“I would like to express a great pleasure that you send the words of support to the people of Zolotarevo,” she said.

“Nowadays, when the whole world is concerned about Ukraine’s movement toward the democratic world, your support is of a great importance to us."

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