Home » A congresswoman from Ukraine voted against aid: what was the reaction in her native Chernigov

A congresswoman from Ukraine voted against aid: what was the reaction in her native Chernigov

by alex

Brief version of the news

  • U.S. Congresswoman of Ukrainian descent caused outrage among Chernigov residents by voting against allocating $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
  • Some fellow countrymen consider her actions to be a betrayal, while there are also opinions that she could be forced to vote in this way due to Trump’s position.
  • Spartz has transformed from a pro-Ukrainian supporter to a critic of Ukrainian President Zelensky, following the Republican Party's far-right narrative.

Victoria Spartz's Hometown Feels Betrayed by Congresswoman's Vote/Channel 24 Collage ( photo by Oksana Parfenyuk for The Washington Post)

The US Congress recently voted to allocate $61 billion to Ukraine for military assistance in the war against Russia. Ukrainian-born congresswoman Victoria Spartz voted against, causing a sense of betrayal among residents of her hometown.

Republican Victoria Spartz was born and raised in Chernigov, where until recently every resident was proud of his fellow countrywoman, who moved to America and became the first Ukrainian-born member of the US Congress. But when Spartz voted against a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine last week, pride turned to feelings of betrayal.

“She no longer Ukrainian,” – residents of Chernigov

The voting took place just as the Russians dropped bombs on the center of Chernigov during rush hour, killing 18 people and injuring 60. Spartz, most likely, she could not help but know about it.

A resident of the house where Victoria Spartz lived and her teacher Natalya Khmelnitskaya says that her fellow countrywoman is no longer Ukrainian, and it shows . Many were disappointed in her.

At first we were very proud of her and thought that she wanted to support us. But now we see that politics and career are above our interests,” added Khmelnitskaya.

65-year-old Valentina Rudenok, a history teacher who worked as a librarian when Spartz was in school , says she was proud of her former student being elected to Congress. But she was very upset about Spartz's vote. According to her, Victoria seemed to have become a completely different person.

However, not all fellow countrymen consider her actions a betrayal. Some believe that she is now with Trump, so she is forced to vote in a way that suits his position. Therefore, she is not an enemy of the state, she had no other choice.

Even among Republicans, Spartz is considered fickle

In 2020, she was elected to Congress as a Trump supporter. In 2023, Victoria Spartz announced she would not run again, but reversed her decision a year later.

The “no” vote on the Ukraine aid vote was Spartz's latest turn in her transformation from a pro-Ukrainian supporter who toured the wreckage of war in her hometown to a critic of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, following the narratives of the far-right camp of the Republican Party.

Even Spartz’s position could not be influenced that her now deceased grandmother was subjected to regular bombing and shelling by the Russians in the semi-surrounded city. The congresswoman visited her hometown in April 2022, a few weeks after the Ukrainian Armed Forces drove the Russians out of northern Ukraine.

After the Russian invasion, Spartz passionately defended her homeland, wearing blue and yellow suits, criticizing President Biden for not imposing more sanctions on Russia before the invasion and vowing to fight for help. After returning from a trip to Ukraine in April 2022, she voted for $40 billion in aid bills for Ukraine. She also supported Biden when he signed a law to rapidly increase military support.

However, very soon, in the summer of 2022, Spartz began to harshly criticize Ukrainian President Zelensky and his administration and advocated the introduction of conditions for providing assistance and strengthening control over funds.

Where Victoria Spartz is from

US Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (Kulgeiko) was born in 1978 in the town of Nosovka in the Chernihiv region. She moved to Chernigov to attend kindergarten, and in 1986 her father, an engineer, was a liquidator of the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, where he received a serious dose of radiation, which later caused cancer. Spartz was 12 years old when Ukraine declared independence in 1991. That year her father died. After studying in Kyiv, she emigrated to the United States in 2000 after meeting her husband Jason. They settled in Indiana, his home state, and had two daughters. She worked in accounting and real estate before being elected to the Indiana State Senate.

How the US passed the Ukraine aid bill

  • The United States of America on April 20, 2024 supported the long-awaited bill to help Ukraine. 311 representatives voted “for”, 112 “against”, 1 abstained.
  • Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is known for her far-right and anti-Ukrainian position, clearly demonstrated after her chairmanship that she is against help. Before that, she proposed an amendment to “reduce every amount in this law to zero.”
  • US support for Ukraine could change the offensive actions of the occupiers. Military observer Denis Popovich told Channel 24 about this 24, noting that the enemy’s offensive plans were based on the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have problems with the supply of military aid from the United States.
  • On April 24, 2024, the US Senate supported a bill to allocate about 60 billion in aid to Ukraine. 79 votes were cast for the document in the Senate.
  • On the same day, April 24, US President Joseph Biden signed a bill on assistance to Ukraine and other partners.

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