‘Sheer Brutality' Seen In Ukraine, Reports Rep. Crow After Eastern Europe Trip

By Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

April 18, 2022

Following an Eastern European trip with other members of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jason Crow reiterated the importance of American help to Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion.

“Our trip underscored a couple of things,” he told reporters Monday afternoon. “The first was the sheer brutality of Vladimir Putin’s unjustified, illegal invasion of Ukraine — the thousands upon thousands who are being brutally murdered by the Russian military and by Vladimir Putin’s forces, and the displacement and sheer volume of the refugee crisis,” Crow said.

The Democrat, who represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, recently returned from a trip to Poland, Slovakia and Romania.

The United Nations estimates that close to 5 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began on Feb. 24, with many heading to neighboring Poland.

“The refugee crisis is enormous,” Crow said. “The brutality of this war is astonishing.”

Crow said that as the White House creates a pathway for up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to enter the country, Colorado will take its share “like we always do.”

“We’ll step up once again to lead, opening our hearts and minds and wallets as needed to help Ukrainians as they flee the violence and, some of them, as they come to Colorado,” he said.

Some Ukrainians with family connections have already come to Colorado to escape the violence.

As far as monetary aid to Ukraine, Crow said sustained funding will be necessary, as well as other supplemental aid to address immediate need. Last week, President Joe Biden authorized an $800 million military aid package that brought the total support to Ukraine since Feb. 24 to $2.6 billion.

“What’s really clear is that this is going to be a long-term conflict. This isn’t going to be weeks. I don’t think this is going to be even months. I think we’re looking at a longer-term conflict that’s going to require a consistent kind of built-in funding over time,” he said.

“We have to make sure we’re … rising up to meet the needs of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters and our Ukrainian partners and helping them win, because this isn’t just about Ukrainian survival. This is about democracy versus autocracy.”

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