| R 135 |
| 2023 -- H 5823 Enacted 02/28/2023 |
| 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 |
| 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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| LC001705 |
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