Managing a city during the war:

An Interview with Halyna Shymanska, Acting Mayor of Zhytomyr City, Ukraine

By ECA Gender Team

July 21^st, 2026

“I can’t afford to be tired right now. During the war, the city must keep going.”

In September 2024, following the previous mayor’s early resignation, I decided without hesitation to take on the responsibility for the city’s day-to-day running.

Did I worry that I wouldn’t be up to the task? Probably not! Today, during the war, many women are taking on new responsibilities and roles.

Women are increasingly becoming leaders, volunteers and organisers of important processes within their communities. And this is only natural — everyone, in their own way, is doing everything possible to ensure victory and support their organisation, city or country.

My typical day as Acting Mayor is always very dynamic. It usually begins with operational meetings, where we address the most pressing issues related to residents’ safety, the stability of heating, electricity, and water supplies, as well as the performance of municipal services. Every day I meet with business leaders and representatives of civil society organisations, resolve budgetary matters, and in the evening I reflect on the day and feel glad if I have managed to do something useful for the townspeople or our defenders.

Of course, I couldn’t have managed it without my colleagues.

After all, one person alone cannot do the job, and achieving good results requires close cooperation. And we have that! I am immensely proud that, since the full-scale invasion began, we have maintained a strong, united team. We have two budget sessions behind us, both of which were successfully completed. This means a great deal, particularly that during this extremely difficult time for the country, we have managed to maintain unity among the council members, ensure the city’s economic stability, modernise infrastructure, support educational and social projects, and reach a whole new level in international cooperation.

We are receiving support from our European partners: the Italian Red Cross, the governments of Germany and Switzerland, and our twin towns. For instance, Dortmund was the first city to offer a helping hand in 2022 and has stood by us ever since. And, of course, we are also supported by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.

Every day, we do our utmost to ensure that every part of the city runs smoothly and that people’s homes have basic amenities — heating, water and electricity — even in emergencies, because the greatest asset of every Ukrainian city is its people, and my greatest fear is losing their trust and being unable to help them.

I am aware that the well-being of over a quarter of a million residents, including 17,000 displaced families, depends on my work today. This is a huge responsibility, which motivates me to achieve even better results. And, in my view, we are achieving them.

Last year, we built a modular housing estate for 56 families who were forced to leave their homes due to the war, and this year we are opening four more multi-storey buildings for 116 families. What’s more, we recently handed over the keys to seven flats to people for whom Zhytomyr has become a second home.

“Our city has always been and remains people-centred, so our team and I are doing everything we can to ensure that displaced people feel at home here.”

Last year, in partnership with UNICEF, we also opened a support centre for families of children with special educational needs. It is a place where more than 500 families have already experienced care and comprehensive support, and where children have received high-quality, accessible services.

If you look purely at the figures, it might seem at first glance that it isn’t much, but behind it all lies a huge amount of organisational work. And for me, that’s a real achievement.

Of course, were it not for the risks posed by the war and limited funding, the city would be developing more quickly and in a different way. However, in the current situation, as a leader, I have to make decisions which may not please everyone, but on which the well-being of hundreds of thousands of residents depends.

All in all, being a leader in times of war is also a considerable challenge, and at times it can be particularly difficult, because the concept of leadership has taken on deeper, more responsible forms than in peacetime, when people’s lives are not under threat.

Today, I advocate for gender-responsive budgeting, the development of barrier-free spaces, and support for veterans, people with disabilities, and families with children, because I want every decision made by the city to be assessed through a social sensitivity lens.

I am also convinced that leadership is impossible without investment in knowledge and development, which is why education — a driver of opportunity and equality, especially for women — has become one of our city's top priorities. Over half of Zhytomyr's budget is allocated to this sector: lifelong learning programmes, further education for people over 45, vocational education transferred to municipal ownership, and international lecturers teaching free of charge. Some of these initiatives directly create new economic pathways for women.

Take our tram and trolleybus driver training programme: since many men drivers left to defend the country, women have stepped in — and today 94 of our 199 public transport drivers are women.

The training is fully free, the city pays a salary from day one, and employment is guaranteed after the final exam. Since the centre opened in 2004, it has trained 221 people — 126 of them women. It is a small number on paper, but behind it is a shift in what a woman in this city can do and earn. For it is exactly this kind of access that determines whether women can remain economically active, build a life here, and become true leaders in civil society.

Today, unfortunately, the credibility of women politicians is being called into question, and their leadership style is viewed differently.

I have seen firsthand that women in power are treated with greater scrutiny and prejudice.

Sometimes I have to read rather unpleasant, subjective comments about my work, but this only motivates me to reach new heights, because I firmly believe that leadership qualities have no gender — they produce results.

Does this role exhaust me? Definitely not, because wherever I work, leadership for me is always about responsibility, about establishing a system that works, about a reliable team you can trust, and it’s always about setting high standards for myself and for those around me.

The only place where I don’t have to play this role is with my family, my support and inspiration. It is only at home, reading the books of my fellow Zhytomyr native, Vasyl Shevchuk, that I can recharge my batteries and return with renewed vigour to tasks that society once labelled ‘unfeminine’, but which women across Ukraine carry with proven strength and determination.

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