The Ukrainian flag will be raised in Alton in response to the “appalling” treatment of its president and the country’s ongoing bombing.

But it won’t be raised outside the Assembly Rooms while some councillors are against it, claiming it discriminates against other nations at war and could upset Russians living locally.

Four people recently wrote to Alton Town Council asking for the Ukranian flag to be flown alongside the Union Flag at the cairn on the High Street.

They included Tony Souter, who felt the simple act would express solidarity with Ukrainian guests given the troubled bid to negotiate a ceasefire and President Trump’s ambush of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House.

He wrote: “These developments have re-traumatised Ukrainians all over again – this was reminiscent of the beginning of the war in 2022 when the whole future of the country was on the brink.

Cairn and Assembly Rooms, Alton, January 8th 2025.
Councillors have rejected plans for the Ukrainian flag to be raised at the cairn - but it will fly below the Union Flag by the town hall instead. (Alton Herald/Paul Coates)

“Quite why a simply display of humanity and solidarity in the form of the Ukrainian flag needs a full council debate is a mystery.”

Councillors who debated the request last Wednesday heard the Ukrainian flag flew at the cairn for “at least a couple of weeks” before being taken down by persons unknown and replaced with a Palestinian one.

The council felt the Ukrainian flag should not be flown at the cairn as the site is sacrosanct and that British flags should only be raised above it.

But while they eventually agreed to fly the blue and yellow under the Union Flag at the town hall, the vote was only carried by five votes to three with one abstention.

The biggest opponent was Matthew Kellermann, who suggested ATC should be supporting the community as a whole instead of singling out one for support.

Ukraine war
Tony Souter, who is heavily involved with efforts to help Ukraine, asked ATC if the flag could be raised outside the Assembly Rooms. (Tony Souter)

He said: “By flying the Ukrainian flag you could also be further alienating the Russians in this town who are feeling marginalised not because they are supporting Putin, but because of his actions.

“This is problematic because we’re a town council and we’re not involved in international affairs. We should be supporting our community foremost.”

Cllr Kellermann argued the flags of nations like Myanmar, Israel, Syria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Libya, South Sudan and dozens more should be raised if ATC wanted to show solidarity with nations at war.

Cllr Barbara Townsend agreed, saying there are other refugees in the town aside from Ukrainians.

She said: “There are many conflicts going on in the world and we’re not a national government, so we don’t have to take sides.”

Cllr Annette Eyre was also hesitant, saying: “I don’t think we can say ‘yes’ to one and ‘no’ to others.”

However, Councillor Graham Hill reminded ATC that the UK government is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and that East Hampshire District Council recently flew its flag to mark three years since the war began.

He said: “There is always going to be conflict, unfortunately, but this is a major conflict within Europe and we have a large number of Ukrainian refugees who we’ve welcomed with open arms.”