TAIPEI (TVBS News) — While most delegations at Taipei's Smart City Summit and Expo discussed carbon footprints and digital services this week, Ukrainian officials arrived with a different agenda: a better tomorrow. Officials from Mykolaiv, Dnipro, and Lviv told the expo on Wednesday (March 18) they are seeking technology partners to help their cities endure Russian attacks and plan for eventual reconstruction, though they disclosed no specific agreements.
Alex Senkevich, mayor of Mykolaiv, a port city approximately 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) from the front line, said his administration faces "bigger problems than carbon footprint" due to the war. Despite daily threats from Russian missiles and drones, Senkevich said his city is working with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Italian company Oneworks to create a master plan that includes building a digital twin of Mykolaiv.
Dnipro, a major industrial city further from the front, faces similar infrastructure threats. Sanzhara Oleksandr, speaker of the city council, described a brutal winter in which temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4°F) while Russian forces targeted electricity stations. Power outages lasted up to three days, he said, forcing local authorities to seek alternative energy solutions, including small generators, battery systems, and solar panels.
While some officials focused on immediate survival, Andreiy Zholob offered a longer view. The deputy mayor for Veterans in Lviv and a veteran himself acknowledged that "war is an awful thing," but said it also represents "a very big possible start for a country to start everything from the beginning." Ukraine, he said, is seeking to redefine its international identity, rejecting labels as a "Third World" or "post-Soviet" country in favor of positioning itself as a capable partner.