OPINION: Spartz, Ukraine Surrendering to Putin

Continuing its proud tradition of publishing articles with titles that seem designed to put a smile on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face, The Telegraph recently published an interview with the only Ukrainian-born member of the US Congress, the ever-contradictory Victoria Spartz.

In her comments to the British “broadsheet”, she said:

“I just don’t see how they [Ukraine] can be positioned to demand to keep the land. If they would be winning the war, that will be very different.”

A native of the Chernihiv region, Spartz grew up in Ukraine until she moved to the US at the age of 22 and married an American. Born in Nosivka, south-east of Nizhyn in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, her hometown was spared Russian occupation partly due to its relative geographic insignificance, and largely thanks to the brave efforts of Ukraine’s defenders, who halted the Russian onslaught at Chernihiv, fighting for months from a besieged city.

Perhaps her attitude towards the fate of the country of her birth is best encapsulated by another statement she gave to The Telegraph:

“Everybody’s trying to screw you, and if you’re not good at negotiating, you will be screwed quickly.”

Is this continuing effort to undermine Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, coming from a woman who voted against an aid package for the country of her birth, merely an attempt to score points and “screw” Ukrainians for political favor among the MAGA crowd?

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Despite strikes on Ukraine, Russian advances slow, analysts say

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds through its fifth year, battlefield momentum has stalled, creating a strategic deadlock. Russian forces lost more ground than they gained in the spring, hampered by drone warfare that has created an impassable “dead zone” along the front lines. Unable to mount sweeping offensives, Moscow has scaled back its public war aims to securing the Donbas and resorted to slow infiltration tactics, particularly around the stronghold of Kostyantynivka.

Spartz has already been branded “Putin’s useful idiot” by some in the US Ukrainian community. Since the re-election of Donald Trump as President there has been little doubt as to where her loyalty lies. Actively abandoning her constituents and party colleagues by neglecting her responsibilities in the House, she threw her weight behind the MAGA “DOGE” machine.

Yet, while she is willing to back Trump’s questionable cost saving measures and betrayal of allies, she was never one to follow his words to the letter. For one, she never followed the “The Donald’s” advice to Democratic female members of Congress to “… go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done.”

Instead, she keeps her seat in the US Congress while telling Ukrainians how to live and, essentially, how to surrender to Russia.

In fact, Victoria Spartz’s reputation for honesty and trustworthiness seems on par with that of Trump himself, even factoring in her relative political youth. From the earliest days of the Republican primary in her congressional district, fellow party members and opponents raised questions about her financial disclosures and the origins of the wealth that funded her campaign, allegedly due to a lack of clearly declared accounts.

During her tenure as a state senator, a position to which she was appointed rather than elected, she was also criticized for proposing legislation that reportedly benefited her family’s business ventures. She allegedly failed to fully disclose conflicts of interest, particularly regarding development on protected lands.

Undoubtedly, the rise of the Ukrainian-born Victoria Spartz (née Kulheiko) will attract more scrutiny over time, whether regarding her astonishing ascent to Congress without winning a single local election, her financial disclosures, her decisions on domestic and foreign policy matters, or other, as yet unreported facts.

What remains absolutely astounding is the stark contrast between the actions of this “daughter of the Chernihiv region” and those of her namesake, Anatoliy Kulheiko, from Ripky, just north of Chernihiv.

When the area was under Russian occupation, invaders searched for records of registered hunters and gun owners who, when discovered were then arrested, tortured, or killed. As the head of the local hunting and fishing association, Kulheiko understood the peril if this information fell into Russian hands. He told his wife to hide, took and detonated a hand grenade, sacrificing his own life while killing two of Russia’s invaders - an act that put an end to Russian forays into his hometown.

Representing Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, which has stayed comfortably Republican since 1993, Spartz may occasionally feign support for Ukraine in statements against Russian aggression. Those pale into insignificance compared to her meddling in the internal politics of a state she can no longer realistically claim as her own, especially given her vote against providing aid to Ukraine as it fights its existential war. She will certainly never embody the bravery and sacrifice of ordinary Ukrainians.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.