Igor Terekhov received the “Hero of the City” award

The finalists for the City Hero award also included the president of the Helsinki region and vice president of the European Committee of the Regions, Markku Markkula, as well as the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The European community awarded the honorary title to the mayor of Kharkiv “for his exceptional leadership, courage, and commitment to implementing modern approaches to city management, especially in difficult times.”

The jury highly appreciated the steps that allowed the city to remain stable in the first months of the full-scale invasion. Particular attention was paid to the uninterrupted functioning of public utilities, as well as initiatives such as the creation of Ukraine's first underground schools and the introduction of free public transport.

The mayor took part in the award ceremony online. In his video address, Ihor Terekhov emphasized that it was a great honor for him to receive the Eurocities Award.

“Thank you for this award, but I want to emphasize that it belongs not to me personally, but to the whole of Kharkiv and every Kharkiv resident. This is recognition of our joint efforts, our resilience, and unity. This is the result of the support we have received from European cities since 2022,” the mayor said. 

Reference. The international organization Eurocities brings together more than 200 large cities from 38 European countries. Kharkiv is an active member of this organization.

The City Heroes Award recognizes European politicians and city officials for their exceptional leadership or initiatives at the local or European level.