"Estonia is not just a friend – Estonia is a very great friend," says Andriy Sadoviy, when we meet on a grey November morning in the lobby of Tartu's Antonius Hotel. "A big part of Estonia's national budget has been reserved to support my country. But culture is our bedrock."

Sadovyi is the mayor of Lviv, Ukraine's "cultural fortress" in the west of the country. Last week, he was in Estonia to sign an agreement confirming the "sister city" relationship between Tartu and his hometown.

The cities have had a close working relationship for decades, with both sides repeatedly expressing their willingness to develop bilateral relations further. Now, they've made things official – with cultural and economic ties between the two cities expected to go from strength to strength.

"I'm very optimistic about our partnership," Sadovyi tells me. "I think every Ukrainian city and every Ukrainian community must have good collaborations with Estonian cities and Estonian communities."

To kick things off, during his visit to Estonia, Sadovyi also spoke at "Ukrainian Days" – a conference, that brought together representatives of top Estonian and Ukrainian cultural institutions to discuss the latest issues facing the sector, as well as foster new opportunities to work together.

"We must think about the future and build our collaboration, not only between prime ministers and presidents, but also between cities and between communities. It is not easy during a war," he admits. "But we must. We must think about the future."

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Lviv and Tartu certainly have plenty in common.

"Both cities are cultural capitals of their countries. Both are major university centers with active, young and vibrant student communities," says Ambassador of Ukraine to Estonia Maksym Kononenko, in his opening speech when "Ukrainian Days" kicks off later that same November morning. "And both are strong bastions of national identity and statehood."

"Estonians say that the spirit of Estonia lives in Tartu," Kononenko continues. "Lviv has also always preserved the spirit of Ukrainian freedom and free thought, regardless of tyrants and empires. These are the qualities that unite us and provide a solid foundation for our preparation to create a better world, and a prosperous and peaceful future for generations of Ukrainians and Estonians to come."

It's hard to disagree with the ambassador – If you had to pick one place where the Ukrainian spirit is said to be most alive, it would surely be Lviv.

I last visited the city in October 2021 to conduct PhD field research, just months before Russia launched its brutal full-scale invasion. By day, Lviv's countless cafés were filled to the brim with locals and tourists alike, sampling the city's historic coffeehouse culture that dates back to the early 19th century. By night, crowds gathered in the cobbled streets and sang along with Ukrainian national folk songs and modern-day pop hits performed by a colorful assortment of local musicians.

But now, as Mayor of Lviv Sadovyi explains, things are very different.

"Lviv is safer than many other Ukrainian cities," he tells me, pointing out that his city is 1,000 kilometers from the frontline, and just 70 kilometers from the border with Poland. "But every day, Lviv also hosts wounded people from different regions. Our municipal hospital has hosted 19,000 wounded. And today, Lviv hosts 150,000 internally displaced people (IDPs – ed.)," he says.

"And, from time to time Russia launches rockets. Two months ago, Russia made a combined attack – drones and missiles – which damaged 189 buildings, 20 severely, and also killed eight civilians." Among those who perished in the attack, Sadovyi says, were four members of the Bazylevych family – a young mother and her three daughters. The youngest child, Emilia, was just seven years old.

In some ways, Sadovyi says: "If you compare the situation at this moment in Tartu and Lviv, things are very similar – children go to school, students go to university, museums and theaters are open, so are restaurants and hotels. But every day we also have [air raid] sirens, and we have to spend time in shelters. [The sirens last for] one hour, or an hour and a half – it depends."

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Despite all the challenges Ukraine faces in the present, Sadovyi is adamant about the importance of continuing to look to the future. "I believe in a Ukrainian victory," he says. "We must de-occupy Ukrainian territory. If Ukraine falls, it is a catastrophe for democracy in the world. But I believe in our victory. Never give up," he says, drumming the syllables of his words on the table in front of us: "only victory."

For Sadovyi, and many others from Lviv, who have come to Estonia for "Ukrainian Days," the hope is that part of that future will involve their city following in Tartu's footsteps by soon taking its turn to be European Capital of Culture (ECoC). Lviv has already submitted its application for 2030 and, if that bid proves successful it will become the first Ukrainian city to hold the title. Naturally, that was one of the key topics on the agenda when Sadovyi met with Mayor of Tartu Urmas Klaas (Reform).

I'm holding Lviv's official application for European Capital of Culture 2030. This is our vision for the city's future and proof that culture is our priority. Over 100 cultural figures, including war veterans, contributed to this.
Lviv is the first city to compete for it. pic.twitter.com/GoHNvOiv0b

— Андрій Садовий (@AndriySadovyi) October 16, 2024

"Culture has always been a bridge between our nations," says Klaas in his own speech at "Ukrainian Days," adding that the two mayors have already discussed concrete ways Tartu can support Lviv's ECoC 2030 ambitions.

"I am convinced that this agreement between our cities will give us a new opportunity to deepen our co-operation and create new possibilities for our people and, our institutions," the Mayor of Tartu says. "Every day in Tartu also belongs to Ukraine and I am sure that we will find the possibilities to assist in that context."

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There are a lot of lessons Lviv can share on that front too, not least when it comes to understanding the overriding artistic concept at the heart of Tartu's own year as European Capital of Culture – "Arts of Survival." That much becomes clear when my discussion with Sadovyi turns to a visit made to Lviv in March 2022 by another Estonian politician –  leader of the Center Party Mihhail Kõlvart, who at that time was also mayor of Tallinn.

"I showed him our shelters and we had conversations with internally displaced people," Sadovyi says. "He was shocked, but maybe he was thinking about [if] a very similar situation [were to occur] in Estonia, because Estonia is very close to Russia."

"Theoretical knowledge [of the war] is one thing, but physical knowledge is completely different.," he adds. "I know this topic well. I am preparing my city for war and during a war situation, things are completely different. Today, my city and all Ukrainian cities can provide good examples about resilience, about survival and about being unbroken," Sadovyi says.

"Unbroken" ("Nezlamni" in Ukrainian) is a theme Sadovyi returns to often during our conversation. It's not only an appropriate word to describe the Ukrainian people's determination to carry on in the face of Russia's invasion, but also the name of a foundation established by Lviv Municipality to provide support for those affected by the war. Sadovyi is a supervisory board member and describes "Unbroken" as "an ecosystem of humanity."

The foundation consists of over 20 separated but interconnected projects and has so far provided a whole range of services including medical treatment, prosthetics, physical and psychological rehabilitation as well as housing and reintegration for as many as 16,000 wounded Ukrainians. And with initiatives like "Unbroken Art" and "Unbroken Sport" there's also a prominent role there for culture, Sadovyi explains.

"There are more than 30,000 of my citizens on the front line today," he says. "Every family has sent loved ones to the frontline. And after the invasion, a lot of those people are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as are the people who are living in Ukrainian cities," he says. "Culture is a unique [part of this] treatment, which can help change the situation. We are investing money in culture at this moment, and we are using culture as a form of treatment."

***

As my conversation with Sadovyi reaches an end, he admits he's not had much time to explore Tartu yet, but already has a good feeling about the place. "I had a short conversation with the mayor, then dinner [last night] and only after this conversation with you, will I have the possibility to see this beautiful city," he smiles.

He has, however, been to Estonia three or four times before, most memorably as a teenager. "My first visit to Estonia was around 40 years ago," he says.

"I was maybe 16 years old, and together with my friends we made a very adventurous trip from Lviv to Vilnius, slept on a train from Vilnius to Riga, and then from Riga to Tallinn and finally on to St. Petersburg," he says. "After that, we ran out of money and had to go back to Lviv," he laughs. "Tallinn is very nice city but if we compare the situation today and 40 years ago, of course, it's completely different."

"It's only my first visit to Tartu, so maybe tomorrow morning I will have more emotions," Sadovyi says. "But I love Estonia, and I already love Tartu. I expect a huge collaboration between our cities and between our countries."

***

More information about the Unbroken Foundation in Ukraine is available here.

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