Victoria Spartz, Ukraine native, describes 'heartbreaking' trip to see Russia's 'ruthless' war
Rep. Spartz warns Ukraine refugee crisis cannot be Poland's 'problem alone'
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind, joined 'Fox & Friends' urging the U.S. and other nations to step up with concrete 'action' to help Ukrainian refugees amid the war with Russia.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!The government plane was already full for the bipartisan congressional delegation trip to the Ukraine border, but Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., was determined to see the crisis herself, so she booked a commercial flight to meet up with her colleagues in Poland last weekend.
Spartz, a Ukraine native, had been hearing first-hand accounts of Russia's brutal assault on the Ukrainian people from her family and friends in Ukraine. And when she arrived at the border she firsthand witnessed the "heartbreaking" scenes of women and children fleeing Ukraine and the tragedy that is unfolding.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., traveled to the Ukraine-Poland border the weekend of March 4, 2022, to see firsthand the humanitarian crisis created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Victoria Spartz's office)
"It's heartbreaking to watch. … When you see in person the human suffering, and you see these little kids and moms leaving their houses with nothing [in] cold weather, it really has an effect on you," Spartz told Fox News Digital. "It's a tragedy what's happened there."
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As the fighting continues into a third week, Spartz warned that more suffering is coming.
"It's going to get worse before it gets better because a lot of people that will start coming from the more eastern, northern territories have been bombed for a few weeks and under siege and will have a lot of health issues, will have no friends or families," Spartz said. "They have no means. So this really needs to be addressed."
Members of the bipartisan congressional delegation at the Ukraine-Poland border during the weekend of March 4, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Victoria Spartz's office)
Spartz was a late addition to the bipartisan delegation trip organized by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in connection with Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to the region. Other members on the trip included Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., Ranking Member Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo.; David Cicilline, D-R.I.; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; Raul Ruiz, D-Calif.; Susan Wild, D-Pa.; and Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
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The delegation wanted to send a strong message of bipartisan unity that the United States stands with Ukraine and that help is on the way. The House already approved a $13.6 billion aid package for Ukraine and passed a resolution condemning Russia for the brutal invasion.
Spartz, who left Ukraine at the age of 21, has become a powerful advocate for Ukraine with her emotional speeches from the Capitol on the horrors of the war and the need for the United States, European Union and others to do more to help.
