OLATHE, Kan. — A woman from Olathe, Kansas, is in Washington, D.C., this week to advocate lawmakers send support to Ukraine.
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She’s one of about 500 people from across the country participating in the third Ukraine Action Summit.
“For me as an American citizen, this isn’t just about supporting Ukraine — it’s about Russia,” Barrows said.
The group will meet with U.S. senators and representatives and their staff members over the next three days. They’ll ask members of Congress to send funding and military equipment to Ukraine.
They’ll harp the same point President Joe Biden made in a primetime speech Thursday: sending weapons to Ukraine allows the United States to get items out of its stockpile and resupply with new, better equipment.
The group will also ask Congress to consider acknowledging alleged war crimes against Russia, and to consider using assets of Russian oligarchs frozen in Western countries to fund Ukrainian missions.
“It’s not so much just us going and saying, ‘Give more money to Ukraine.’ That’s not at all the messaging. It’s really kind of advocating on the humanitarian side,” Barrows said.
She feels a connection to Ukraine after serving there for two years as a Peace Crops member after college.
Since the invasion in February 2022, Barrows has collected more than $92,000 to buy gloves, clothing, tourniquets and other items for Ukrainians.
Barrows delivered some of the items personally when she visited Ukraine earlier this year.
“[It’s easy] to forget the human side of it and focus on it as more of a — especially in D.C. — as a political thing or as a budgeting issue," she said. "Whereas there’s still a massive humanitarian crisis."
During his speech Thursday, Biden proposed combining support for Ukraine and Israel in one package. But senators from Kansas and Missouri disagree with that approach.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall (R) sent a letter to senate leaders urging them to separate the funding requests.
“These are two separate conflicts and it would be wrong to leverage support of aid to Israel in attempt to get additional aid for Ukraine across the finish line,” Marshall wrote in the letter.
During a speech on the senate floor last week, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt (R) echoed Marshall’s sentiment, calling for separate debates about Ukrainian and Israeli support.
“No one can define what victory looks like [in Ukraine],” Schmitt said.
Barrows is steadfast. This is the second Ukraine Action Summit in which she’s participated.
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