The same plane engines that residents of Ukraine’s capital heard rumbling overhead on the dreadful day Russia invaded seem to be made in Oxford’s Russian twin town.

Oxford has been officially twinned with an industrial centre and cultural hub Perm, the easternmost city in Europe, since 1995.

The city based in the foothills of the Ural Mountains in Russia, was a closed city and military stronghold during the soviet era, only opening up to the world in 1989.

Russian developer of aircraft engines, Aviadvigatel, is based at Perm Engine Plant, its products powering the famous Ilyushin-76s which have been part of the Russia-Ukraine conflict since as early as 2014.

These huge, multipurpose cargo planes were designed by the Soviet Union’s Ilyushin bureau, originally conceived as a military aircraft, and are designed to withstand harsh Siberian conditions.

They are fitted with a Perm PS-90, a high-bypass commercial turbofan rated at 16000 kgf thrust, which was modernised in the 2000’s.

In 2012, Russian News Agency, TASS reported that Perm Engine Company had been contracted to make 200 PS-90A-76 engines for the defence ministry, the site becoming part of the United Engine Building Corporation serving the government since 2008.

On the second day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, reports came in that the Ukrainian air defence forces had shot down two of these huge Il-76 aircrafts said to be carrying a ‘landing force’ near Vasylkiv, a city just south of Kyiv.

This was verified by news agency AP, with pictures of the wreckage shared, although Russia did not acknowledge the loss of any aircraft.

Perm, was known as Molotov between 1940 to 1957 after the eponymous Russian minister who is better known for his inspiration of the petrol bomb, Molotov Cocktail.

The name Perm comes from the Permian Period, 300 to 250 million years ago, which was identified in the geologic strata there, and the entire area is extremely mineral rich.

The western Russian city stands on both banks of the Kama River, and what was the great Siberian Highway, its position making it an important trade centre since the 18th century.

Modern Perm, which has a population of over one million people, is a major railway hub with petroleum and coal industries as well as a large chemical industry making fertilizers and dyes.

According to Oxford’s Lord Mayor, Mark Lygo, many citizens of Perm have been arrested for protesting against the war in Ukraine.

A member of the Oxford Perm Association, who travelled to Perm in 2017, Jenny Houston, has said that older generations seem to have more support for Putin than younger generations from her experience.

The 75-year-old added: “It’s just a nightmare. I have been in contact with my friend in Perm, a young man, and he is ashamed and appalled by what is happening.  

“[The war] is not being done in the name of the people in Russia. I think everyone knows that. People are protesting.”

After the Oxford Mail requested a comment about these discoveries made about Perm's military links and a week of pressure from Oxford citizens, the City Council has made a U-turn on its decision in Perm. 

City council leader Susan Brown said: “Our Lord Mayor wrote in strong terms to the Mayor of Perm condemning the invasion. We haven’t received a response to that letter.

"With the situation escalating and many thousands of lives being lost, we are, with a heavy heart, taking action to end our twinning agreement until such time as Russia’s appalling breaches of international law cease."

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