What did the first days of September 2021 mean for Kyiv?
A look back at a week of diplomacy, energy deals and a church fire in the Ukrainian capital, ahead of 6 September 2021.
What was on Ukraine's public agenda on 6 September 2021? The days leading up to it were crowded with diplomacy, energy cooperation and one painful loss in Kyiv.
On 31 August, the state enterprise Energoatom and Westinghouse Electric signed a memorandum in the United States on building a power unit at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant. It was an agreement on intent to build, not a finished project, and it tied the Ukrainian energy sector to an American partner.
On 1 September, US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at the White House for the first time. The talks ended with a joint statement on strategic partnership, which gave the meeting a concrete, published outcome.
On 3 September, fire broke out in Kyiv's St Nicholas Church. The blaze damaged the roof and destroyed the organ. No one was reported hurt.
Beyond Ukraine's borders, on 2 September Poland declared a state of emergency on its border with Belarus amid a rise in illegal migration. The Polish Border Guard reported around 3,500 attempts to cross illegally in August, of which 2,500 were unsuccessful.
An opinion in hindsight
Taken together, these items show a country trying to anchor its security and energy future in partnerships, while its neighbours dealt with pressure on their own frontiers. The White House meeting and the Westinghouse memorandum fell within days of each other, and both pointed to cooperation with the United States. Whether the pledges would be turned into practice was the open question as of 6 September 2021.
The church fire was a reminder that public life also includes loss that no statement can offset. The organ was gone, and the damaged roof awaited repair.
