Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include additional comments from city councilmembers Inga Selders and Cole Robinson.
The city of Prairie Village is once again thinking of sending funds to help its war-ravaged Ukrainian sister city, but the politics of the moment in the U.S. are creating local concerns that didn’t exist the first time Prairie Village tried to help three years ago.
On Monday, the Prairie Village City Council during a committee meeting directed city staff to write out a recommendation for the city to give nearly $23,000 to Dolyna, Ukraine, its longtime sister city.
The money could be used to purchase drones that Dolyna officials have told Prairie Village leaders they want for ongoing rescue operations and humanitarian efforts in and around the city in western Ukraine.
This comes more than three years after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Soon after the invasion began, Prairie Village donated $10,000 worth of walkie-talkies to Dolyna.
That vote three years ago was unanimous, but the city council was nearly evenly split Monday, voting 6-5 to approve bringing the funding up at a future city council meeting.
Councilmembers who supported the donation expressed value in continuing the long-standing sister-city relationship.
But Terrence Gallagher, the one councilmember in opposition to the motion who explained his reasoning, questioned whether Prairie Village could be getting itself into trouble with the federal government by going against the current Trump administration’s policies.
Last month, President Donald Trump paused military aid to Ukraine, a move in part meant to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate an ending to the war with Russia, the Associated Press reported.
City officials told the Post that the money is likely to come from the city’s general fund unless the city council directs otherwise.
No final decision has yet been made on the donation.
Dolyna relayed the need for support via Zoom call
- In March, Mayor Eric Mikkelson and four councilmembers met with Dolyna elected officials on a Zoom call to receive an update on the sister city’s status during the ongoing war with Russia.
- In that call, Dolyna officials asked Prairie Village leaders to advocate for continued federal funding from the United States to Ukraine, and also asked for help to buy several quadcopter drones, a type of small drone with four rotors.
- While Dolyna is far from the front lines of the war, Mikkelson said, Dolyna residents have been killed, injured or are missing in action.
- The sister city’s current need for support is “most dire” because — compared to a rally of support at the beginning of the invasion — the war “has become a political issue,” Mikkelson said Monday.
- “They are losing support, and it becomes a war of attrition, not just of people, but of resources,” Mikkelson said. “They need us more than ever.”
A letter from Dolyna to Prairie Village requesting help purchasing drones can be found on page 176 of the document embedded below. The council committee of the whole agenda item related to this request can be found one page 175.
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Open in new tab What does Dolyna want the drones for?
- The city of Dolyna wants the drones to “monitor large areas, detect hazards, conduct rescue operations, and deliver medicines, humanitarian and other goods,” according to a letter sent to Prairie Village from Dolyna Mayor Ivan Dyriv.
- Prairie Village City Administrator Wes Jordan told the city council on Monday that the drones would go to people from the Dolyna community who “are involved in the war effort.”
- City documents mention two specific drone models manufactured by Chinese company DJI. Dolyna officials’ first choice, according to Prairie Village city documents, would cost $5,283 per drone. A second choice would cost $2,474 per drone.
- Jordan said city staff prefers sending a direct financial contribution to Dolyna instead of purchasing drones outright because Prairie Village ran into issues shipping walkie-talkies to Dolyna three years ago due to their lithium batteries.
- Jordan said he will have more logistical details at the April 21 city council meeting.
Councilmembers weigh in
Councilmember Cole Robinson said the call with Dolyna elected officials in March made him think about what it would be like if Prairie Village were experiencing war and “the horrors that they’re [Dolyna residents] living.”
“What struck me the most as a father of four is they talked about how all of these children in their community have just had their childhood robbed because they live in a nightmare every day,” Robinson said.
Robinson ultimately made the motion to make a direct contribution of $22,900 — symbolically, $1 for every Prairie Village resident — to Dolyna.
Councilmembers Inga Selders and Ron Nelson also voiced support for donating money to Dolyna.
Councilmember Dave Robinson, who also supported sending the funds, suggested that if Prairie Village wasn’t willing to still support Dolyna during these times then the sister-city relationship should be ended.
After the Post published this story on Friday, Selders commented on Facebook saying that she supported the donation to Dolyna but opposed the purchase of drones.
Cole Robinson also later told the Post in a text that there were concerns within Prairie Village city hall that the drones purchased with Prairie Village money could later be modified for use as weapons of war.
None of those concerns were raised by city councilmembers or city staff during Monday’s meeting.
Gallagher, however, did publicly voice worries about what supporting Dolyna could mean for Prairie Village’s dealings with the U.S. government, referencing the Trump administration’s pause of federal aid to Ukraine.
“The elephant in the room is there’s a climate in Washington, D.C., right now that I’m concerned about if we move forward with this,” Gallagher said. “If we are going against the policies of our federal government, what does that say when we want to start asking for help for our own grant money for our own residents?
“I don’t know the answer to that, but right now, everything’s so off balance,” Gallagher continued, adding that he’d like to hear more from other councilmembers who recently made connections with federal representatives at a national conference for cities.
The motion ultimately passed the council committee by a 6-5 vote.
Councilmembers Terry O’Toole, Lori Sharp, Tyler Agniel, Nick Reddell and Gallagher cast the dissenting votes. Councilmember Ian Graves was absent.
Next steps:
- The city council is anticipated to formally consider the $22,900 contribution at the April 21 city council meeting.
- City council meetings begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 7700 Mission Rd.
Go deeper: Watch the city council’s entire discussion online here, starting at 2:18:27.
