Three-Year Anniversary of Russia's Brutal Attack on Ukraine

Floor Speech

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Mr. VINDMAN. Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago this week, Russia launched an unprovoked invasion on Ukraine. We are entering the fourth year of war in Ukraine and 11 years of war on Ukraine since the invasion in Crimea and the Donbas.

In the past few days, the fact of this major invasion has sadly been disputed. It is important that history represent the truth. Whether it is Putin or anyone else, including in our government, that says Russia is not the aggressor and that Ukraine is responsible for the invasion, they are lying.

Yesterday's anniversary reminds us that the Ukrainian people continue to suffer, but I know that they will remain strong and resilient. This is not a regional fight. Ukraine's sovereignty is a U.S. national security issue. We must hold the line in Ukraine now or we may have American boots on the ground, fighting in Europe in a few years. That is my fear.

We do want peace, and yet this administration has begun negotiations from the weakest possible position. Before we even get to the table, Ukraine has been excluded from NATO. Territorial concessions were granted to Russia, and Ukraine didn't even have a seat at the table. This is what they get for a sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of their people, cities destroyed across Ukraine.

The Trump administration must increase pressure on Russia if we are truly interested in peace. With Russia, in particular, weakness invites aggression, and easing up on Russia only makes Ukraine's fight harder. We must stand firm.

I spent 25 years in the Army, defending America's national security interests at home and abroad. When I retired a little over 2 years ago, I traveled to Ukraine 14 times investigating war crimes. I traveled to Kharkiv, 20 miles from the Russian border. I traveled to Zaporizhzhia, 20 miles from the Russian front. I traveled to Mykolaiv and Chernihiv, cities that have appeared in the news, devastated by Russian attacks.

Those people are resilient. They are fighting for their freedom, much like we fought for our freedom almost 250 years ago. We are going to celebrate that anniversary in one short year. Can we imagine what it would have been like if France did not intervene on our behalf? We have a portrait there, the Marquis de Lafayette, that stood with us shoulder to shoulder. The French spilled blood on our battlefields.

We weren't even asked to do that. We were asked to provide some material support, 31 tanks, a couple hundred of our armored vehicles, and some money. Granted, we have to watch how we spend our money. We have an obligation to the American people. We also have to recognize where our national security interests lie. I think for some reason we have forgotten the fact that we spent 80 years defending an international order that our grandfathers fought for and died on European battlefields for. I can't explain it.

They know that in Ukraine because that is what they are fighting for. They know that if they give up, the Russians will occupy. In those occupied areas, they have already deported tens of thousands of children to be reeducated and taken away from their family. They put the Ukrainian people in camps.

Russia is basically like a boa constrictor, slowly digesting chunks of Ukraine. If we pause now without security guarantees, they will be back at it in a few years just like they were after Crimea, like they were in Georgia, and like they were in Moldova.

We have to be clear-eyed about that in our interests. In Virginia's Seventh District, my voters expect me to stand up for American values, and that is exactly what I am doing by speaking out today.

That is why I will keep fighting for strong U.S. leadership all around the world. That includes Ukraine's sovereignty, for our own country's national security interests, and for the values that keep and have kept America strong.

On this anniversary we must reaffirm our commitment that we stand against autocrats and dictators like Russia and North Korea and that we stand with Ukraine on the right side of history.

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