Grants Pass

• By Vickie Aldous of the Daily Courier March 7, 2023

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine raging on, the Grants Pass Sister City group is looking to add another sister city beyond Rubtsovsk, Russia.

The group doesn’t necessarily want to end the relationship with Rubtsovsk — which was cemented in 1990 after residents of the town in Siberia bonded with Grants Pass residents at an international whitewater rafting competition.

“We know our friends in Rubtsovsk are decent, honest, generous and kind. We don’t want to drop it. We’ve had this relationship for more than 30 years,” said Olga Rusina, who was born in Russia and moved to the U.S. from Moscow when she married a Grants Pass man.

Grants Pass residents have happy memories of travel exchanges and Russian souvenirs like traditional matryoshka nesting dolls, hand-carved and painted chess pieces, and cloth with traditional patterns. 

The city of Grants Pass has a display case of nesting dolls, a miniature Russian Orthodox church, a carving of a horse-drawn sleigh and other mementos at Grants Pass City Council Chambers on A Street.

The sister city concept and its parent group, Sister Cities International, was created at President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1956 summit on citizen diplomacy. He envisioned bonds among everyday people around the world that would foster global peace and prosperity.

Seeing the war in Ukraine has been painful for Grants Pass Sister City group members, Rusina said.

“We are an organization that deals people-to-people. Our task is to create peace in the world,” she said. “Why should we stop now when there’s a war?”
It hasn’t been easy to maintain the relationship.

The last Grants Pass residents went to Rubtsovsk in 2016, and Grants Pass hosted Russians in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic upended travel in 2020.

Communication between Americans and Russians has become difficult since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Rusina said.

Russians who communicate with Americans can be labeled “foreign agents” and face consequences like losing their jobs — or worse, Rusina said.

“If you’re perceived to be sympathizing with those who are against the war, you can be taken to jail,” she said. 

Rusina said oppression and control of Russians has skyrocketed during the war under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. An estimated 1 million Russians have left the country, while others are pushed into fighting against Ukraine, she said.

Rusina said some Russians do support the war.

“Mass media is in the hands of the Russian government. There’s 24-hour propaganda,” she said. “Some people who aren’t strong enough fall for it, but the majority of thinking people understand it’s a tragedy for Ukraine and Russia.”

In February of this year, the Grants Pass Sister City group voted to amend its bylaws to say its goal is to foster goodwill and understanding between Grants Pass and Rubtsovsk “and/or another city.”

Although most towns with sister city relationships have one sister city, there’s nothing stopping towns or cities from having more.

Chicago, for example, had 28 sister cities, including ones in Russia and Ukraine. Last year, the city severed its ties to Moscow as Russia invaded Ukraine.

The war has strained sister city relationships around the world, according to various media reports.

A spectrum of cities including Chicago and Dallas cut relationships with Russian cities, while some cities like Colorado Springs suspended ties.

Other American cities created new sister city relationships with Ukrainian cities — or stepped up efforts to help Ukrainian sister cities they already had.

People in Corvallis donated money and supplies to their sister city Uzhhorod in Ukraine.

When the war started, Grants Pass Sister City group member Bucky Dennerlein said she questioned whether Grants Pass should continue its sister city relationship with Rubtsovsk.

“I thought, ‘Am I tacitly saying it’s OK?’ I don’t think it’s OK,” she said.

Dennerlein and Grants Pass Sister City group member Nancy Hitchcock said Rusina — who lived in Russia until she was 49 — helped the group understand Russians aren’t free to speak out against their government.

The Grants Pass Sister City group is looking for suggestions from residents and businesses about good sister city candidates around the world.

“They are very welcome to come with their ideas. That’s what we need at the moment,” Rusina said.

Residents interested in hosting people from another country, or who want to go on international exchanges, are also welcome to take part.

If the Grants Pass Sister City group picks a city in a Eurasian country like Ukraine, it could be eligible for funding from the Open World international exchange program. However, Grants Pass doesn’t have to limit itself to that region of the world, sister city group members said.

When residents from another nation come to visit, the group wants to showcase Grants Pass offerings like rafting, art and cultural events, wineries, forests and locally grown and made products.

“We have things that we’d like to share with the world and be citizen ambassadors,” Dennerlein said.

For more information or to suggest a sister city, send an email to olgarusina2@gmail.com

This article by Vickie Aldousat appeared in The Daily Courier 541-474-3813 or email valdous@thedailycourier.com.