By supporting Ukraine, Washingtonians stand for good
There’s a little Ukrainian grocery store in Fife, Wash. that offers a taste of home for Slavic Washingtonians. Emish Market serves borscht, pirozhki, and other nostalgic flavors to customers every day. The store hosted some special guests for lunch on Friday: Gov. Jay Inslee and Ruslan Kravchenko, head of state for Ukraine’s Kyiv Region.
Kyiv Region surrounds Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev. In the two years since the Russian invasion began, more than 1,600 residents of the area have been killed. Russian munitions have damaged 24,000 homes and 227 schools, including 71 kindergartens. In early 2022, much of the region was overrun before a Ukrainian counterattack won it back.
The region has endured bitter fighting, occupation, barrage, and now repair. It’s been two long years for Ukraine — and for Kravchenko. Before his appointment as the region’s governor, he investigated Russian war crimes.
“When Russia began its invasion, they told civilians to wear white ribbons,” says the region’s governor Ruslan Kravchenko. “In the mass graves we found, many of those people wore white ribbons around their wrists.”
For all of Russia’s legions and bullets, Ukraine is still in the fight. Over 10,000 of the destroyed structures in Kyiv Region have been repaired. Ukrainians remain determined to defend their lives, their culture, and their freedom. Washington is championing their cause.
WATCH: Washington joins Ukraine’s Kyiv region in sister state agreement (KING5)
A sign of faith
At Tacoma City Hall on Friday, March 15, Inslee and Kravchenko signed an agreement to strengthen ties to Washington state. Kyiv Oblast and Washington are now “Sister States,” the first such relationship between an American state and a Ukrainian region since the war began in 2022.
“These agreements are a sign of faith in victory,” said Valeriy Goloborodko, Honorary Consul of Ukraine to Washington state. “Students and professors and business leaders will come here to learn. And they’ll bring that knowledge home to strengthen Ukraine.”
For the Ukrainian community, it’s a recognition of years of hard work to build American support for their defense of democracy. It’s also a mutual commitment to begin business partnerships, academic exchanges, and mutual investment. The war will one day end, and the Ukrainian economy will renew itself. Washington state can both help that renewal and benefit from it.
Washingtonians aren’t alone in its support for Ukraine. Most of the free world stands with them. Andrei Muraru, the ambassador of Romania to the United States, also attended the signing ceremony. The ambassador reminded Kravchenko that Romania has endured several periods of occupation in its history yet remains free today — he hopes for Ukraine to endure as well.
Rising to the moment
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his murderous “Special Military Operation” in late February 2022 as his armies marched into Ukraine. Within just a few weeks, Washington nonprofits organized to send 32 tons of emergency medical supplies to Ukraine.
“I was standing there on the tarmac as they loaded up the plane,” said Inslee. “That shipment quantified the character of our state. Box after box after box — it was emotional to watch. And you knew why Ukrainian defenders would need those supplies.”
For his part, Inslee promptly directed state agencies to begin severing contracts and investments with Russian affiliation. He urged Congress to support Ukraine and worked with the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance to prepare for new refugees.
Two years later, Inslee and Washingtonians maintain their support.
Washington has welcomed more than 24,000 displaced Ukrainians since the war began, and over 6% of all Ukrainian refugees to the United States have settled in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area. The state Department of Social and Health Services now supports 11,860 Ukrainian households with food assistance.
Washington state companies have already stepped up. In 2023, two outdoor equipment companies worked with Oleg Pynda and the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington (UCCW) to send 3,500 water filtration systems to Ukraine. They arrived in the nick of time. Enemy action had breached the Nova Kakhovka Dam, flooding the countryside of Kherson Region and contaminating drinking water. Those filters made potable water for thousands of local families. The UCCW has also helped Ukrainian refugees find housing and community in Snohomish County.
And just two weeks ago, Inslee met Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova to express Washington’s solidarity. In February, Inslee called on Congress to replenish Ukrainian defenders’ dwindling munitions and supplies. On March 13, after months of delay by the Republican majority in Congress, the U.S. Senate finally authorized a critical aid package that included $60 billion for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. But the U.S. House of Representatives has so far failed to act, and Ukraine is paying the price on the battlefield.
For her part, U.S. Rep Marilyn Strickland has been a steady supporter of Ukraine’s fight to preserve its freedom. She met with Kravchenko Friday and pledged to continue her advocacy. Earlier this month, Strickland penned an op-ed criticizing Republican inaction as a threat to national security.
“We must send a message to the world that the U.S. stands for freedom and democracy and against tyranny and terror. It’s time for House Republicans to join us,” wrote Strickland.
During his remarks, Kravchenko produced a locket that showed a rustic Ukrainian village before the war. He opened the locket and removed a sharp, black shard of metal. It was shrapnel from a Russian munition removed by a coroner from a dead Ukrainian civilian. To Kravchenko, the locket symbolizes the life and beauty destroyed by this senseless invasion.
There are two sides to this war: good and evil. By supporting Ukraine, Washingtonians are standing on the side of good.
