Albany, NY, to help rebuild Bucha
The city of Albany, the capital of the US state of New York, has offered to partner with Ukraine’s Bucha to support its rebuilding efforts.
Source: Anatolii Fedoruk, Bucha Mayor, during a visit to the US, as cited in Ukrinform
Quote from Fedoruk: "We are planning to visit Albany in the state of New York, Bucha’s future partner city. Albany’s Mayor’s Office proposed an initiative to partner with our city."
"Our main goal here is to tell the people in the US what is happening in Ukraine, to establish direct contacts with politicians and foundations that are supporting our rebuilding efforts."
Details: Fedoruk said that a group of Bucha City Council officials are in the US with a six-day work visit.
He explained that it was "important to rebuild what has been destroyed, but even more important to modernise and become stronger than we were on 24 February" [2022, when the full-scale Russian invasion began – ed.].
Bucha Mayor said that he and his team have meetings with high-level officials in Washington, including the leadership of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), congressmen, government officials, party leaders, journalists, and businessmen.
"Democrats and Republicans are united in their support for Ukraine, both to ensure that Ukraine wins the war now, and in the future," Fedoruk said.
The mayor said that the world’s attention has been focused on Bucha since the atrocities Russian forces committed there in spring 2022: "We have even had to take on a diplomatic role, welcoming foreign politicians and delegations."
Fedoruk also said that he took part in a USAID meeting in Washington during which the decision to allocate US$135 million previously designated for The US Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF) to Ukraine and Moldova has been approved.
"This money was to be used to promote democracy in the Russian Federation and support Russian municipalities, but in light of the current circumstances the government made a decision to allocate it to Ukraine and Moldova," Fedoruk explained, stressing that Bucha residents will have a say in deciding which projects to fund with this money.
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