When I heard of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s passing on July 11, I was deeply touched.
Graham’s final efforts were in putting an end to the war in Ukraine and among his final public words before his passing he said:
“l’ve never been more optimistic than I am today, that we have the formula to end this war.
We have a magic moment in time here in the coming months, if we do this right, to increase Ukraine’s lethality, get people to help us with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, rather than propping him up, we can end this war.”
What we thought would be a blip on the horizon has become a grueling marathon. Recently, in just a single attack, Russia launched around 730 aerial attacks against Ukraine. A previous attack killed at least 22 people and injuring more than 130 others.
Behind every number are shattered families and futures forever changed. Tragically, nearly 800 children have been killed across this four-year war. The time has long passed to stop the killing.
Senate should pass Ukraine Support Act
While we have made large strides up to this point, including seeing the Ukraine Support Act pass in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 4, the battle to sustain human life is not over.
Granam announced just berore nis death,
“We’ve reached an agreement with the White House on a version of the Russian sanctions bill that they will support. It means it’s going to become law.”
He was on his way to Washington to complete the final steps of this mission, but his life was cut short. Now we must carry on this diplomatic mission which he has started. We should all reach out to our senators and encourage them to support Ukraine via the Russian sanctions bill that reflects America’s commitment to freedom and democracy.
In the meantime, HelpingUkraine.US will continue to visit the country to maintain our relationships with partners on the ground, serve children, assist villages with repairs and bring generators to hope centers. Underneath the rubble, everyday Ukrainians are trying to climb out just to reclaim a fraction of normalcy.
As Russia continues its killing of Ukrainian citizens and troops, Ukraine is being forced to strike back just to keep their heads above water. In hopes of slowing Russia’s repeated strikes, Ukraine has struck Russia’s largest oil refineries with drones, deep in Moscow territory.
While we will round this corner at some point, until then, HelpingUkraine.us will continue to focus on temporary relief while supporting the completion of Lindsey Graham’s vision to bring a diplomatic end to this war.
What we are doing on the ground to help
At the moment we are working to build dedicated support centers that provide the emotional stability and physical structure desperately needed by Ukrainian children. We want to give them a safe space for schooling, three nutritious meals a day and therapeutic support to process the trauma of living in a war zone.
For example, HelpingUkraine.US has the privilege of working alongside the Odessa People’s Church, Good Deed Foundation and Rotary Club Cherkasy to support hundreds of children of fallen soldiers and displaced families through camp and school programs.
We are also focused on providing the absolute basics which we take for granted. Imagine a place where, amid rolling blackouts, a person can find electricity just to charge their phone, iron their clothes, or prepare a warm meal. By installing emergency solar energy systems for backup power, we are helping Kharkiv’s Emergency Service provide exactly that.
We are working to bring clean water back to the Kharkiv Region using filtration stations that provide free, safe drinking water to around 10,000 residents. In the southern region of Kherson, the water supply was entirely destroyed. Here, we are actively building well infrastructure to bring fresh water to the nearly 1 million people affected by the devastating destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
With this new glimmer of hope Sen. Graham brought to us during his final day, we still recognize that vast areas remain unlivable due to unexploded ordnance and landmines. For instance, the Tip of the Spear Landmine Removal initiative is dedicated to making these regions safe again. Like everything in this war, it requires constant effort.
I am personally dedicated to doing everything in my power to help Ukrainians. While the House has taken an important first step with the Ukraine Support Act, the process is not complete.
Our country has led decades upon decades of peace efforts at home and around the world.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as he mourns Graham’s death, posted on X that Graham “had been working on important initiatives that could help bring peace closer … America and the world have lost a determined leader.”
But as Americans celebrate our 250th anniversary, we cannot let our foundational principles of freedom and humanitarianism fall by the wayside. Ending the despair in Ukraine is a defining example of how we stand up for human dignity, ours and theirs. We are on the ground, and we are not leaving, let us not lose what Graham had been so diligently working toward. Please join me!