2023 -- H 5823

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONDEMNING THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

     Introduced By: Representatives J. Brien, Casey, Phillips, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Place,
Nardone, Fogarty, Messier, and Kennedy

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, On February 24, 2022, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, its neighbor

to the southwest. This illegal and immoral act of war is the largest conventional warfare operation

in Europe since World War II ended in 1945; and

     WHEREAS, Ukraine is a democracy of more than 40 million people led by its

Democratically-elected President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia is a nation of approximately 145

million led by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent, who has been in power in Russia since 2000

and is widely believed across the globe to be a tyrant; and

     WHEREAS, For centuries, Ukraine and its people have suffered greatly due to actions

taken by Russia, their more powerful neighbor to the east. The Ukrainians declared their

independence in 1917, but were invaded and defeated by Lenin and his Russian forces in 1921.

From 1932 to 1933, the Ukrainian people suffered from a Stalin-induced famine, called

Holodomor in Ukraine, that according to a United Nations statement in 2003, killed

approximately 7-10 million people; and

     WHEREAS, More recently, in 2014, Russia broke international law by invading and

conquering the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. As a result, Russia’s actions were condemned

by the United Nations and they were suspended by the G8, (Group of 8), which was an inter-

governmental political forum from 1997 to 2014, consisting of the United States, Canada, United

Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia, which met regularly and sought to foster

stability and economic prosperity across the globe. Tragically, as recent events show, Russian

President Vladimir Putin has no interest in these noble ideas. Since 2014, Putin and Russia also

sowed rebellion and violence in the Donbas region of Southeastern Ukraine, in Russia's never-

ending quest to de-stabilize the Ukrainian government and democracy in Ukraine; and

     WHEREAS, According to the United Nations, more than 5.9 million people in Ukraine

have been displaced since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, with nearly 8 million refugees

from Ukraine having been recorded in neighboring countries across Europe, and a projected 17.6

million needing humanitarian assistance in 2023, due to the crisis in Ukraine. The most recent

Ukraine War casualty estimates come from the Norway Defense Chief, General Eirik

Kristoffersen, who on January 22, 2023, estimated that thus far in the war, Russia has suffered

approximately 180,000 dead and wounded, with Ukraine suffering 100,000 dead or wounded, and

30,000 civilian deaths; and

     WHEREAS, Thankfully, the world's reaction has been swift and almost unanimous in its

condemnation of Putin’s actions. NATO is unified in its opposition to this invasion and is

supplying the Ukrainian government and military with much-needed weapons and humanitarian

goods. Other non-NATO nations are also assisting the Ukraine Government such as Sweden and

Finland. The United Nations has overwhelmingly condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, and

the United States, the European Union and other allies across the globe are also enacting very

strict and biting economic sanctions against Russia, particularly in the banking and currency

sectors. Also, almost all of Europe and its Western allies have declared their territories to be no-

fly zones for Russian civilian and military aircraft; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

declares that it vehemently opposes the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and completely

supports the Rhode Island Ukrainian-American community in this time of great crisis; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Rhode Island Congressional delegation, and

to St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Church,

both of Woonsocket.

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