Someone from the English border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed told me that his town has been at war with Russia since the beginning of the Crimean War in 1853.

Key to this story is the fact that there is still some dispute as to whether Berwick-upon-Tweed should be in England or Scotland. It happens to be in England as a result of the nearby bloody Battle of Flodden Field. In the 19th century, for diplomatic reasons it was usually referred to as being separate from either England or Scotland.

According to the (admittedly unreliable) story, the Declaration of Crimean War was signed by Queen Victoria as "Victoria, Queen of England and Wales, Scotland , Ireland, Berwick-upon-Tweed and all British Dominions". But when the war was over (largely due to lack of enthusiasm on both sides), the Peace Treaty documents omitted to mention Berwick-upon-Tweed.

In about 1966, the town's mayor was interviewed by the Soviet newspaper Pravda (Soviet Russia's equivalent to the NYT) and this story came up in conversation. The mayor said that Berwick-upon-Tweed was a peaceable town and he gave a message to the Pravda man, "Please tell the Russian people through your newspaper that they can sleep peacefully in their beds."

(More reliable details can be found here . . . https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art38768 )