Rob Portman: “I am coming to the floor again this evening to talk about the tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine. This is the ninth…”

“I am coming to the floor again this evening to talk about the tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine. This is the ninth week in a row during sessions that I have come to the floor to talk about the brutal and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine--Ukraine, an ally of ours, a democratic country, and a sovereign country. It has now been more than 2 months since Russia's assault began, and Ukrainians continue to fight with heart, toughness, and conviction. The Russians have been defeated in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. And the Russian Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, was sunk by Ukrainian Neptune missiles. So there have been some successes. But while Ukraine and its people have impressed the free world with their fierce defense of their homeland, the senseless and indiscriminate killing of Ukrainian civilians by Russia continues. In this new stage of the war, Russia has begun an intensified offensive in the Donbas region in the eastern part of Ukraine. A few days ago, a Russian commander affirmed that their goal is to gain full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts--meaning control of all of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, rather than the roughly 50 percent they took in 2014, and control of southern Ukraine, cutting Ukraine off from its Black Sea ports, leaving one of the world's most important exporters landlocked.…”