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Warsaw to donate 10 subway trains to Kyiv: mayor

12.01.2023 07:30
The mayor of Warsaw has pledged that the Polish capital will provide 10 subway trains to Ukraine’s Kyiv.
Rafał Trzaskowski.
Rafał Trzaskowski.PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Rafał Trzaskowski made the announcement during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

While in the Ukrainian capital, the Warsaw mayor met with his Kyiv counterpart Vitali Klitschko, officials said. 

Trzaskowski later tweeted: “The solidarity of local governments in action. We’ve been supporting our Ukrainian friends since the beginning of the Russian aggression, also under the Pact of Free Cities.”

He added: “Today in Kyiv I signed a letter of intent with Vitali Klitschko on the transfer of 10 older subway trains from Warsaw.” 

The Warsaw mayor stressed: “This is important support for our friends from Kyiv. In Warsaw, these subway trains are being phased out of use. In Kyiv, where this model is still in use, they will represent valuable assistance; for instance, as a source of spare parts for repairs.”

Pact of Free Cities

Trzaskowski visited Kyiv alongside fellow members of the Pact of Free Cities: Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib, Budapest’s Gergely Karácsony and Bratislava’s Matúš Vallo, according to officials.

Klitschko showed his guests the fallout from Russian missile and drone strikes targeting Kyiv’s critical infrastructure and residential areas, reporters were told. 

In a joint TV appearance with the Kyiv mayor afterwards, Trzaskowski condemned Russia’s attacks as “genocide.” He also offered Warsaw’s assistance in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine.

Trzaskowski said, as quoted by the PAP news agency: “We want to take part in the reconstruction of Ukraine. We know how to do it, we know how to make use of European Union funding and we want to share this knowledge with our colleagues in Kyiv."

Meanwhile, Klitschko said that the visit of his counterparts from the Pact of Free Cities was “symbolic.”

Klitschko added: “Together we are 10 times stronger. A big thank you to you all for everything that you do. It matters greatly to us.”

Thursday is day 323 of Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, rmf24.plportalsamorzadowy.pl