Ukraine's ambassador to Australia has called on Adelaide's city council to consider a humanitarian partnership with a city in his home country, saying funds raised as part of any such plan could help rebuild schools and hospitals.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko said he had raised the idea with Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith on Friday, and he believed the Black Sea city of Kherson, which has faced heavy shelling, would be a suitable candidate.
"Adelaide could adopt a city or town in Ukraine and help us rebuild a school or hospital and actually raise money in a community," he said.
"I'm sure it could be done and I'm sure many Australians would want to contribute to that.
"I would pick a city in the southern part of Ukraine, and I would go for Kherson actually.
"It's occupied by the Russians, it's been destroyed heavily, being continuously shelled as we speak, but I think Kherson would be a great partner for Adelaide."
Mr Myroshnychenko made the remarks at the Womadelaide music festival, which has made a strong show of support for Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the City of Adelaide said the Lord Mayor was "open to further discussion with the ambassador to see if it the idea is something council could explore further".
This year's festival features Ukrainian folk-electro fusion band Balaklava Blues and a cafe serving Ukrainian food to raise funds to support refugees.
"For Ukrainian musicians and artists and everybody who is in the cultural and creative industries, it's extremely difficult now because Russian troops are destroying our cultural heritage buildings, they are destroying theatres," Mr Myroshnychenko said.
"This war is extremely traumatising for the entire Ukrainian society, no matter where they are.
"We have only 7,000 Ukrainians who have come here [as refugees]. If we look, we have 5 million Ukrainians who became refugees in Europe primarily."
Balaklava Blues singer Marichka Marczyk said her younger brother, who worked as a beekeeper before the invasion, was currently fighting on the front line.
"We're able to be in touch with him every single day," she said.
"I'm far away, he's in a war zone … [but] every single show, I'm thinking about him."
Festival director Ian Scobie said he was pleased the festival could play a small part in supporting the Ukrainian community.
"We are really pleased to support the community … in, for us, a small way and we look forward to the very rapid end to this terrible war and the restoration of international norms, both in terms of borders and the nation's sovereignty," he said.
Call for 'blanket ban' on feathers
Pleas for solidarity with Ukraine have not been the only calls for action at this year's Womadelaide festival, with animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) objecting to an act involving thousands of feathers.
Protesters gathered at the festival's entrance today, urging organisers to change the Place des Anges circus act.
PETA spokesman Dion Campbell said there was "not a lot of transparency" in the supply chain, and said it was not the case that the birds were killed for meat alone.
"A lot of companies that use down and feathers like to say that [they] support the industry by only using by-products of meat," he said.
"PETA investigations over a long period of time have uncovered massive amounts of cruelty in the production of down and feathers," he said.
"We need to put a blanket ban on this and look at other ways we can entertain the crowd.
"We think [that] could be easily achieved by using bubbles in the future."
Mr Scobie has previously defended the act, saying the feathers are ethically sourced. And he today said Friday night's performance "went off without a hitch" in front of a sell-out crowd on 30,000 people.
"It was … terrific to have the company back and just to see the response from the crowd," he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"It's one of the most joyous performances I think I've ever seen.
"We were thrilled to be able to present them again, and I think the response from the crowd reflected that."
