The shared history of Ukraine and Wales

Monday 24 February saw the passing of a solemn day for Ukrainians around the world. The day marked the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion. The massive escalation in the war – now in its 11th year – shocked the world. In continuing solidarity with Ukrainians, the people of Wales continue a long connection with Ukraine.

Historically, both cultures have had to fight to survive the centuries. Thought at opposite ends of Europe – their historical journeys are very close together. And this shows up in many ways. Poetry and song are both vehicles that have carried their respective languages, living and breathing, into the modern world. Both nations are rightly proud of their long literary and poetic traditions.

So, it was fitting that poetry and language would be shared at our event to celebrate Ukrainians, and demonstrate our unwavering support for them, in this, our Nation of Sanctuary.

But the cultural and historical events of recent centuries, run deeper and are more direct than some might think. It is still not well known, that Donestk, the city at the epicentre of the early years of the war, was once called Yusovska – named after its founder, the Welshman and industrialist John Hughes. Welsh miners and engineers brought the coal and steel industries to the region, along with railways and the 19th century industrial world as a whole.

The governess of Hughes’ children would go on to have a son of her own, the journalist Gareth Jones, an acknowledged Hero of Ukraine, for his brave reportage on the Holodomor – the series of genocidal famines inflicted on Ukraine by Soviet authorities in the early 1930s.

During the Miner’s Strikes of the 1980s, Welsh miners were shocked to receive financial help from afar – their brother miners in Ukraine donated their pay to support the strikers and their families. The connection continued in the years that followed. In 2022, that compassion was returned, as the ex-Welsh miners began shipping aid and much needed vehicles to their Ukrainian counterparts, now fighting for their country’s survival.

In the sharing of cultures, we acknowledge the importance of a now unbreakable bond between Wales and Ukraine. Though we are far apart – our hearts are close together.

Thank you to Cardiff University for collaborating with the Welsh Refugee Council for Monday’s commemoration, as we continue to celebrate the shared cultures of Ukraine and Wales. Photos courtesy of Dariia Zhdanova.