On June 27, the City of Volgograd, a Vice President of Mayors for Peace and the Lead City in Russia, hosted an event titled “Friendship Day” dedicated to Hiroshima, one of Volgograd’s twin-cities. The event was held on the eve of the World Cup football match between Japan and Poland in the hope of offering a united platform for international guests, football fans, members of youth and civil society, and school and university students.
It was initiated by the Volgograd branch of the Russian Peace Foundation – its Chair is Yury Starovatykh, the ex-Mayor of Volgograd and an Honorary Citizen of both Hiroshima and Volgograd. Among the event’s guests of honor was Mr. Tokuro Furuya, the Deputy Minister of the Japanese Embassy in Russia.
The event included an exhibition about Hiroshima and the cooperation between Volgograd and Hiroshima, a presentation about why the two cities became twinned and what happened to Hiroshima in 1945, a workshop of paper cranes by local college students, among others. At the end of the event, a carp streamer, a symbol of Hiroshima, was put on a flagpole and run up by Deputy Minister Furuya and local children.
>Report of “Friendship Day” on the City of Volgograd website