Barely a moment after the partnership between the cities of Mykolaiv and Montpellier was signed on June 6 in Kyiv, during the International Summit of Cities and Regions, the first acts of solidarity have already taken shape.
The City of Montpellier, with the support of the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region, immediately responded by organizing a well-deserved respite stay for children from Mykolaiv affected by the consequences of the Russian aggression. Yesterday, they were welcomed to La Grande-Motte for a fifteen-day stay at the peaceful 3MTKD Sport Culture Social center, facing the Mediterranean, where they can marvel, discover French culture, have fun, and above all, forget—if only for a moment—the horrors of war.
To prepare for this precious moment, Clémentine Papa, Director of International Relations for Montpellier, and Valentin Costes, Head of Partnership and Institutional Relations, traveled to Mykolaiv to accompany the children on this long journey and strengthen the ties between the two cities. It took them nearly 60 hours by train and bus, passing through Odessa, Lviv, and Poland, to reach La Grande-Motte.
As emphasized by the Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, this initiative is essential for the children and their psychological well-being. This stay marks the first of a long series of similar trips to come.
A huge thank you to Michaël Delafosse, Mayor of Montpellier, Clare Hart, Alban Zanchiello, as well as Ihor Filipov from the Mykolaiv City Hall, and to all the teams from the cities of Mykolaiv and Montpellier, the Occitanie Region, La Grande-Motte, and the 3MTKD center for making this project possible.
We wish the children of Mykolaiv a wonderful stay.
