The winter weather gear and warmers sent from Yokohama, Japan has arrived in its sister city of Odesa, Ukraine, just in time to help citizens that have been suffering from Russian attacks, loss of heating and electricity, and the start of a long, cold winter ahead.

On November 11th, Yokohama received a request from Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, stating his city’s lack of cold weather gear, especially in light of necessary outdoor reconstruction efforts that are a result of damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Civilians, including those working or volunteering on road or other infrastructure reconstruction projects, faced a cold winter without the proper clothing and equipment to keep them warm.

In response, Yokohama sourced nearly 2000 sets of snow jackets and pants, nearly 100 winter firefighter jackets, and 10,000 disposable insole warming packs from local Yokohama companies to be delivered to Odesa Ukraine. These items left Japan on December 4th, arriving in Frankfurt, Germany, where Yokohama City has one of its global offices on the same day, where they were organized into two truck shipments that would cross the border into Ukraine. The first truck arrived in Odesa at around 9am on December 12 local time, and the second truck arrived the next day at around the same time.

After receiving the shipment, Mayor Trukhanov released a statement, stating that twice over the last week, southern Ukraine has been hit by attacks that have severely affected Odesa’s electricity and heating, and that during this moment of crisis, Yokohama’s support will surely be a great help to the citizens of Odesa, and that he is deeply thankful for his city’s friendship with Yokohama.

Yokohama will continue to endeavor to support its sister city Ukraine during its time of need.

Learn more about Yokohama’s 50+ year relationship with Odesa

Yokohama’s original press release (Japanese)