Since russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we have seen the past repeat itself. Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages have been captured and destroyed, Ukrainian civilians arrested, tortured, and killed. School curricula in occupied territories are being replaced with russian narratives that aim to erase Ukrainian history. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and sent to russia. Russia continues to destroy Ukraine’s power infrastructure and agricultural heartland, and regularly targets hospitals, places of worship, museums, and residential and other civilian buildings with missile attacks. Tens of thousands of innocent Ukrainians have been killed, and millions of families have been separated.

As Ukrainian-Americans, it is our responsibility to ensure that the evil being perpetrated by putin’s russia does not continue to happen on our watch. We understand that there can be no possible negotiation with a regime that is committed to erasing Ukraine not only as an independent nation, but also its culture, its identity, and its people. The US and our elected leaders must continue to stand up to this evil, to fight it, and ultimately to defeat it. And we, as Ukrainian-Americans, must do our part in electing the leaders who are committed to doing this.