The new office is a branch office of the main Danish Embassy to Ukraine in Kyiv, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said to news wire Ritzau.

Dialogue between Denmark and regional and local authorities in Mykolaiv is expected to be strengthened with the addition of the office.

While it will officially open in 2024, the new site will be operational from Thursday this week.

Danish official Franciska Kirkegaard Flugt, who is just 28 years old, will lead the new department in Mykolaiv and will work closely with the Danish Embassy in Kyiv.

“Apart from the practical element, we are now also showing the Ukrainians that we take our role seriously. That this isn’t just something we’re saying. It’s something we’re actually doing,” Flugt said.

“I’m convinced that this is going to make a huge difference,” she said.

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was meanwhile in Kyiv on Monday, where foreign ministers from EU countries were gathered.

“It clearly has strong symbolic value to meet here so we, as a united union, can send the unambiguous message that we support the Ukrainians fully,” Rasmussen said.

Mykolaiv was one of the first cities to be attacked when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

In March last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Denmark to help rebuild the bombarded city in an address to the Danish parliament. Some 230,000 of the pre-war population of 500,000 are still in Mykolaiv, according to Ritzau.

Denmark has since taken on a prominent role in the work, including supply of construction machinery to the city.