Helsinki continues unwavering support for Ukraine

The City of Helsinki has supported Ukrainian cities in various ways since February 2022, when the full-scale war in Ukraine began. The collaboration deepened in December 2023, when Helsinki’s then Mayor Juhana Vartiainen and Dnipro’s Mayor Borys Filatov signed a cooperation agreement between the two cities. The current Mayor of Helsinki Daniel Sazonov is continuing this cooperation, which has gotten off to a great start.

With a population of around one million, Dnipro is Ukraine’s fourth largest city and home to strong technological expertise and several universities. Dnipro is also a significant centre for internally displaced persons in Ukraine, and it has been hit hard by Russian bombing.

The partner cities are committed to cooperating closely both during and after the war to reconstruct Ukraine. The key themes of the partnership are education, camps for children and young people, city planning, security, preparedness and good governance.

This year, the partner cities have started exchanging information in early childhood and basic education to strengthen children’s future skills. The cities are also planning a joint innovation project together with the City of Tallinn to build the resilience of cities.

Helsinki invests in camp activities for children and young people

One of the key focus areas of the collaboration between Helsinki and Dnipro is promoting activities for children and young people. This summer, the City of Helsinki, together with the Helsinki YMCA, once again organised a two-week camp at the Pelli Camp Centre in Karjalohja, southern Finland. A total of 30 young people from Ukraine came to experience the Finnish summer.

“It is an honour for Helsinki to support the children and young people of our partner city Dnipro and to be able to organise a summer camp in Finland already for the third time. We want the camp to offer the young Ukrainians a breather from the hardships of daily life in their war-torn homeland,” says Mayor Sazonov.

The camp included a range of participant-approved recreational activities in a nature setting, including sauna, swimming and canoeing. Helsinki YMCA employees were on hand to ensure the young people’s safety, lead the activities and offer good food. At the request of the City of Dnipro, the camp participants were also given environmental education.

The young people from Dnipro also got to explore several Helsinki attractions. The programme included visits to the Central Library Oodi, the fortress island of Suomenlinna and the Market Square. A trip to the Linnanmäki amusement park was a clear highlight. Participants also met with Deputy Mayor Paavo Arhinmäki and the Ambassador of Ukraine Mykhailo Vydoinyk, with whom the young people shared their experiences.

The summer camp was also held in Karjalohja in 2025 and at the Kiljava Camp Centre in Hyvinkää in 2024.

Helsinki has provided Dnipro with many kinds of support

A concrete example of the cooperation between the cities is the material assistance donated by the City of Helsinki to its war-torn partner city. The past winter has been very difficult in Ukraine because Russia has targeted its strikes against civilians and critical infrastructure.

This year, Helsinki assembled a relief package of donated vehicles and other supplies worth EUR 77,000. The shipment was delivered in April to Dnipro and elsewhere in Ukraine through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which is coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior in Finland.

The relief package consisted of worksite huts and vehicles that were no longer needed for the City’s operations. It was provided by Stara, the City’s construction service company.

This is the second relief package that the City of Helsinki has sent to Ukraine. In 2024, furniture for classrooms and daycare centres, health care equipment, shipping containers and other material support, worth EUR 140,000, were sent to Dnipro. Since the start of the war, the City has provided Ukraine with EUR 327,000 in aid.

In October, the Helsinki City Board approved an additional EUR 94,000 in support for Ukraine. Most of the donation will be used to supply ambulances and electrical equipment, such as generators, to the City of Kyiv. Kyiv is the most recent addition to the partner city network of Helsinki.

Helsinki donation provides children in Dnipro with musical instruments

Another demonstration of this intercity cooperation was seen in November during a donation ceremony in Dnipro that targeted young students of music who had lost loved ones in the war. In the ceremony, a total of 19 young people received a donated musical instrument that had been purchased with the ticket proceeds from the “Sunflower Seeds of Hope” chamber music performance arranged in Helsinki in May 2025.

“We are doing everything we can to keep our defenders’ families – and children who have lost their parents in particular – from feeling alone. This latest donation is just a drop in the ocean of kindness that our friends throughout the world have shown us. In accepting these instruments, parents and children have an important sense that they are receiving assistance from not only city officials, but also our friends abroad who are with us in spirit during this terrible war,” said the Mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov.

Helsinki Mayor Daniel Sazonov participated in the Dnipro donation ceremony via an internet connection from Finland’s capital.

“I am very happy to see that events organised in Helsinki have resulted in a concrete benefit for Ukrainian children. Dnipro’s decision to direct the concert proceeds towards supporting music students who have lost loved ones in the war is both important and forward-looking. We believe in the power of art and culture here in Helsinki. This is why we also want to do our part and support Dnipro and Ukraine in this work,” said Mayor Sazonov.

Cultural events brought Dnipro to Helsinki

Last spring, on 23–25 May, the cities of Helsinki and Dnipro co-organised a Dnipro Days event, which was designed to send a strong message in support of peace in Ukraine.

The weekend began with a one-of-a-kind concert named “Sunflower Seeds of Hope" at Helsinki’s Temppeliaukio Church. The concert united top musicians from Ukraine’s Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra, who now play in different countries due to the war, and therefore rarely perform together. The orchestra’s repertoire included works from Finnish, German and Ukrainian composers. The audience was deeply moved by the powerful performances, and the performers were visibly touched by the warm reception they received from the full house at the church.

"The interpretations by the skilled orchestra and world-class soloists, such as the violinist Dmytro Udovichenko, reminded us that Ukrainians are not giving up. Even in difficult circumstances, life goes on and new things are created. We cannot forget that the Ukrainians are also fighting this war on our behalf, and that is why we must help and support Ukraine wherever we can," said the then Mayor Vartiainen. 

The concert was followed by Helsinki’s World Village Festival, an urban celebration of sustainable development that featured peace as its central theme. Helsinki invited Dnipro to take part in the festival in order to showcase the city and Ukrainian culture. Dnipro had its own tent at the festival that offered day-long activities, music, and an arts and crafts workshop for children based on Ukrainian painting traditions.

The mayors of Helsinki and Dnipro discussed the global significance of cooperation between the cities as part of the festival programme. In the panel discussion, Dnipro’s Mayor Filatov emphasised the importance of people’s moral support. Ukrainians are empowered by the knowledge that other countries and cities such as Finland and Helsinki, support them in their fight for sovereignty.

As part of the Dnipro Days programme, a delegation of nearly 50 people from Ukraine arrived in Helsinki, led by Dnipro’s Mayor Filatov. Some members of the delegation met with then Mayor Vartiainen and then Deputy Mayor Daniel Sazonov. In addition, they visited Töölö General Upper Secondary School, where they discussed educational collaboration between the cities and learned about Finland’s provision of school meals. The members of the delegation also stopped by the Military Museum in Suomenlinna. The Dnipro delegation put on a theatre performance for a gathering at the Help Centre for Ukrainians in the Helsinki district of Vallila.

The delegation’s visit further deepened the partnership between the cities and opened up new opportunities for collaboration in support of a peaceful future for Ukraine. The weekend also introduced many facets of the Ukrainian culture to the Finns.

The article was first published on 30 May 2025 and updated in 2025 and in May, August and October 2026.