An academic has said cutting Oxford’s link to Russia is ‘playing into Putin’s hands'.
On March 4, Oxford City Council announced it would be bowing to public pressure and suspending its twinning link with Russian town Perm.
This came soon after the Oxford Mail discovered that engines built in Perm were being employed in Il-76 cargo planes used for the invasion of Ukraine.
Oxford citizens also condemned this ‘unacceptable’ link whilst businesses and governments across the world sever ties with Russia.
The chair of the Oxford Perm Association whose work has been key to building on this link since the cities twinned in 1995 is ‘shocked and heartbroken’.
Professor Karen Hewitt MBE said: “Ending the twinning link with Perm is playing into Putin's hands. He is trying to isolate Russians, so it is our duty to keep civic links and information flowing to them.
“Thousands of people in Perm are looking for ways to protest but this is not easy, and currently can lead to a prison sentence of several years. Thousands of them have relatives in Ukraine.
“They are also distraught.”
“How can it help our friends in an ordinary Russian city to be told that they are condemned simply because they are Russian?
“Through thirty years of difficult political tensions on both sides, we have managed to work together for democracy, peace and tolerance.
“Oxford City Council insisted on supporting the Twinning Link through all these painful situations, so why is it abandoning Perm now when it is even more crucial to preserve it?
“This decision goes against the whole ethos of twinning and I am both shocked and heartbroken at what my city has decided to do.”
READ MORE: It is “important” to review Oxford’s twinning agreements, professor says
A member of the twin towns association who went to Perm in 2017 has shared that although she is ‘disappointed’ she understands the council's decision.
Jenny Houston, 75, said: “I’m very sorry about it because there has been so much good work between the people in perm and the people of oxford.
"I feel that the twinning isn’t about the government it is about the links between people.
“I can see why Oxford Council did what they did as they were under a lot of pressure and there have been so many industries who have cut off their relationships so I can see why.
“I am just very disappointed as it is not the people that have started the war.”
In terms of whether she thinks the city council’s stance will help those in Russia realise that Putin’s actions are wrong, she felt it was ‘hard to say'.
“I think that any restrictions or sanctions in the west will be interpreted by Russian media and it won’t get through to them. The older generations see Russia as liberating Ukraine from drug dealers and neo-fascists.
“We’re just shutting them out.”
-
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok
Got a story for us? Send us your news and pictures here
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here