Exeter City Council suspends Russian town twinning

A vigil supporting Ukraine was held in the city centre last month

Exeter City Council has voted to suspend its civic relationship with a Russian city.

Since 1990 the Devon capital has been twinned with Yaroslavl, but the relationship has come under scrutiny after the recent invasion into Ukraine.

More than two million Ukrainians have fled their country, according the United Nations' refugee agency.

Exeter has extended its support to Ukraine by openly welcoming and offering aide to Ukrainian refugees.

Yaroslavl, 160 miles (260km) north-east of Moscow, is home to more than 600,000 residents.

Exeter City Council leader Phil Byliak, who has Ukrainian heritage, said: "We cannot condone the actions of the Putin government or any civil authority outside of Moscow which is in effect an arm of the Putin regime.

"To be brutally honest, I am disappointed we have had to break this link but not disappointed so far with the actions we are taking, we need to send them a big message that this is just not acceptable."

While Exeter's relationship has been suspended, Plymouth City Council has spoken against breaking off their own ties with Russian port city Novorossiysk.