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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it has been nearly 10 months--10 months since that cold, dark morning when I was in the departure lounge at the main airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, with my colleague Senator Chris Coons. We watched on television as Russia attempted to seize another sovereign country in the heart of Europe. I will never forget those early scenes of Putin's horror unleashed on Ukraine.
My friends in Lithuania, who remember Soviet oppression all too well, had warned of Russia's potential strike again in Ukraine, in Europe, and beyond.
Years earlier, I had seen firsthand the seizure of Georgian land by the Russian military in 2008. In 2014, my friend and fellow colleague the late Senator John McCain and I, with a group of Senators, paid tribute to those slain in Kyiv's Maidan Square just as Russia had seized Crimea and was looking to forcibly take other areas of eastern Ukraine.
But Putin and his henchmen failed miserably at understanding Ukraine and understanding their resolve to halt him and his brutality. His initial ploy to quickly topple Ukraine's democratic government and replace it with a puppet failed immediately. And other Russian military advances in eastern and southern Ukraine have been rolled back time and again.
In fact, Ukraine's military has reclaimed hundreds of villages and more than a thousand square miles of territory--good for them. Quite simply, despite the horrific violence unleashed by Putin, the Ukrainian people have prevailed. Their courage and their sacrifice is inspiring.
And the world has rallied to Ukraine's side, leaving Russia isolated--should be embarrassed--and in retreat of Putin's folly.
Yesterday, I met with our Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield. We are lucky to have her. She is truly a skillful, experienced, and talented person.
She reminded me earlier this year, more than 140 U.N. member states voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution that deplored in the strongest terms Putin's aggression.
It also affirmed the international community's commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Only five Nations dissented--they are the world's worst dictatorships--aligning with Putin to vote against the measure at the United Nations. A reminder that Vladimir Putin has utterly failed in pursuing his twisted nostalgia for Soviet tyranny.
And the NATO alliance has held firm in its strong support to Ukraine--this administration included--providing weapons to help them defend their nation. More than 34 other nations joined us. The United States and several key allies have imposed sanctions on nearly 8,400 Russian oligarchs and their families, 1,500 Russian entities, and 100 Russian vessels. The nations of the free world understand that Ukraine is, in fact, our common frontline in the battle for freedom in this world.
President Biden, too, with Secretaries Blinken and Austin, has rallied unprecedented international support. Other nations clearly understand what is at stake. The struggle for the rule of law over the rule of chaos and brute force, that is what is at stake.
And now it is time for the United States and the rest of the free world to continue to lift up our support.
It can be easy to get impatient, even despair, as Ukraine faces continued Russian bombardment of civilian targets and, in many cases, war crimes specifically designed to terrorize civilian populations.
I would like to show you a recent photo. It shows the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk. He is speaking to defenders in Kyiv in an underground shelter during a recent air strike.
Another of a child here hauntingly looking at a damaged school. He is dressed for school. The building has been destroyed by Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian civil servants are working around the clock to restore access to electricity, water, and heat to allow hospitals and schools to function.
The continued unified support and military assistance of NATO is invaluable, and this Congress has been unified in providing this aid.
Make no mistake, Russia is losing the war in Ukraine. Its leaders now are trying to break the will of the Ukrainian people.
As an amateur student of history, I know that the winter has often been a defense for the people of Russia. Napoleon's advance of his troops on Moscow was stymied by the coldest winter imaginable. They said it was so cold that the birds fell from the sky. And we remember well what the Nazis faced when they invaded Russia in a bitter winter that was also a defense for the Russian people.
Vladimir Putin has turned the tables and, sadly, is using winter as a weapon of war against common Ukrainian people--mothers, fathers, and children.
I want to conclude by showing this one photo because it tells such a story. These are members of the Ukrainian National Philharmonic orchestra, performing in a darkened theater in Kyiv on Tuesday, lit only by battery-powered lanterns. It says it all about the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
Russia will fail.
Slava Ukraini.
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