Shrewsbury may twin with Okhtyrka, Ukraine: councillors set up a working group on 28 September that reports on 7 December. Who sits on it and why.
Shrewsbury could become twinned with Okhtyrka, a town in north-east Ukraine. Shrewsbury Town Council agreed on 28 September to set up a cross-party working group to explore the idea. The group will report to the council’s Policy and Resources Committee on 7 December.
The decision is recorded in the minutes of the full council meeting, held at Livesey House on St John’s Hill. Every councillor who spoke supported it.
What the council agreed
The council resolved to:
- set up a small cross-party working group to explore a twinning relationship between Shrewsbury and Okhtyrka
- invite other councillors and interested people to take part
- ask the group to report its findings and recommendations to the Policy and Resources Committee on 7 December 2026
The four councillors named to the group are Rosemary Dartnall, R Wilson, A Fejfer and K Pardy.
This is a decision to look at twinning, not a twinning agreement. Any formal link would come later, after the group reports.
Why Okhtyrka
The motion was put by Councillor Dartnall and seconded by Councillor Kate Halliday. Councillor A Mosley moved it at the meeting because Councillor Dartnall had sent apologies.
The motion text, printed in full in the minutes, describes Okhtyrka as a town of about 47,000 people in Ukraine’s Sumy region. It says the town:
- was founded in 1641 as a wooden fortress
- held out through a month of fighting after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and was never occupied
- had hundreds of buildings and much of its critical infrastructure damaged or destroyed
- was given the honorary title Hero City of Ukraine in March 2022
The motion says any reciprocal visits or exchanges are for the future. “At present, this proposed twinning will be an act of friendship and support for those in Okhtyrka at a time of unimaginable crisis,” it reads.
The town was suggested through Shropshire Supports Ukraine, a volunteer charity. Its founder addressed the meeting. She said she had worked with a priest and volunteer in Okhtyrka for three years, sending humanitarian aid and evacuation vehicles. She told councillors the town is about 20 to 25 kilometres from the Russian border.
What councillors said
The debate is summarised in the minutes. The main points:
- Councillor Wilson said extending friendship mattered in its own right, and that the practical side could be settled later.
- Councillor Pardy said he had been cautious about twinning before, but saw this as different because of the humanitarian situation. He said he would be concerned by any arrangement that brought significant spending or overseas travel costs.
- Councillor Dean supported the motion. He cautioned against presenting the region’s Cossack history in an overly simple way.
- Councillor Wagner said a link could help residents learn about the region’s culture and history.
The Mayor, Councillor B Bentick, noted that the word heard most often in the debate was “solidarity”.
Shrewsbury has had no twin since 2018
Shrewsbury was formally twinned with Zutphen in the Netherlands from 1977 until 2018. The motion says the link ended because of budget pressures and a review of agreements at the Dutch end. It suggests Shrewsbury may now be the only county town in the UK without a twin.
Councillor Mosley told the meeting the group could also look at whether the Zutphen link might be revived. That is not part of the formal resolution.
Other Shropshire towns already have partners. The motion lists Bridgnorth, which has one in France and one in Germany, along with Ludlow, Market Drayton, Wem, Whitchurch, Wellington and Oswestry.
What it means for you
Nothing changes yet, and nothing is being spent. The working group reports on 7 December, and the Policy and Resources Committee will then decide what to recommend.
The resolution invites “other interested individuals” to take part. If you want to be involved, or want to give a view, contact Shrewsbury Town Council through its contact page. Committee meetings are open to the public, and agendas are published on the council’s meetings page beforehand.
We will update this page when the working group’s report is published.
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