Ukraine Action Summit New Hampshire delegation at Representative Chris Pappas’ office on Capitol Hill. Pappas recently announced that he will be running for Senate next election. Current Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a great friend of Ukraine, is stepping down. As advocates, delegates couldn’t discuss election campaigning or endorsements, but it’s possible Pappas gained some supporters on this visit. The blue flag is that of Crimea.
I’ve glimpsed Ukraine’s good future. I spent three days in the company of young Ukrainians, most of them college students studying in the US—bright sparks, all, heart-achingly young and radiating energy, intelligence and potential. Future leaders, business-people, teachers, thinkers, doers; this will be the post-war generation that rebuilds Ukraine.
The young folk and us older folk met on Capitol Hill where we travelled from New Hampshire. More than 600 people from all fifty states made that trip last week. We gathered at the Ukraine Action Summit, sponsored by a coalition of Ukraine-supporting groups and individuals. The delegates held a total of 440 meetings with congress-members over two days.
We have it easy. New Hampshire Congress-members are strong Ukraine supporters. Still, it’s vital to show them their constituents care enough about Ukraine to travel to Capitol Hill, dress in their best, and present their views.
New Hampshire delegates call at the offices of their Senator Maggie Hassan. Photo: William L. Brown.
Our “asks” were few. We asked for support of two resolutions. One is a sanctions measure. It calls for strong sanctions against Russia if they don’t negotiate for peace, or if they violate agreements. It is H.R. 2548 in the House and S. 1241 in the Senate The resolution Senate version has 54 co-sponsors, including NH Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen.
The Protecting Our Guests During Hostilities in Ukraine Act is H.R. 2118 in Congress, S. 696 in the Senate. The act would continue to provide temporary Ukrainian guest status for 270,000 war refugees. Chances for this act are, so far, slim. The House version has only two cosponsors.
Our other issues were abducted children, making Russia pay (transferring seized Russian assets to Ukraine), and Russian religious persecution. In the face of pressure from the Trump administration to concede territory for a cease-fire, activists are quietly resistant. Ukraine’s post-war security is a top priority, too.
You can be part of this, simply by calling your Congress-members and asking them to to support the above resolutions and points. Here’s a helpful link that identifies your congress-members, their phone numbers, and some talking points if you need them.
Russia abducts Ukrainian children ©2022 William L. Brown
It’s a wonder that 19,000-35,000 abducted Ukrainian children are not a bigger mainstream issue, nor a bigger issue in peace-negotiations. Ukraine-supporters will be trying to make it so. Protecting children is non-partisan.
One of the speakers at the training session was Nathaniel Raymond, whose Yale research program tracking abducted Ukrainian children was shut down by the Trump administration. The Yale program had documented 6000 individual children. Ukraine’s official estimation is that more than 19,000 are in Russian hands. Raymond said his team estimates it could be as many as 35,000. Tracking is difficult because Russians falsify records.
Russia is on record claiming it “rescued” 700,000 children, a claim not repeated since Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was charged with war crimes in 2023 for abducting those children.
Researchers have identified 43 “reeducation camps” across Russia where Ukrainian children are housed and indoctrinated. The older children are put in military training. Politico’s European edition recently published an account of Ukrainian teens caught up in and escaping from the reeducation camp system. There exists an underground railroad, Raymond said, that doesn’t make the news. Ukraine’s official count of children under occupation is 1.6 million–not abducted but subject to indoctrination and militarization.
The persecution of Evangelical Ukrainian churches is an issue that grabs the attention of conservatives and moderates. It’s a good antidote to the Russian narrative that Ukraine “bans religion,” the spin they put on Ukraine’s ban of the Russian patriarchal Orthodox Church, which was acting as Russia’s agent. Allegedly, this was the issue that tipped Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a strong evangelical, to end a six-month military-aid holdup in Congress.
The Sweet Lemon Cafe in Washington, DC is worth a visit near the Capitol and Union Station at 201 Massachusetts Ave., NE. The food is Belarusian and Ukrainian. I highly recommend the filled crepes! My favorite was the mushroom-filling. The espresso drinks were excellent, as good as you’d get in Ukraine. Photo: William L. Brown