Richards reflects on Ukraine visit amidst Russian invasion
/
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in Kyiv in November. Photo via Richards/Twitter
By Jacob Kaye
Less than five months before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to invade Ukraine, the Queens borough president made a trip to the country’s capital to honor the victims of a different war fought on its soil decades earlier.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards traveled to Kyiv in November as part of Ukraine’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar Massacre, which saw the Nazi killings of approximately 100,000 Ukrainians, Jews, Russians and other ethnic groups during World War II.
Seeing Putin’s forces invade Ukraine Wednesday night weighed heavily on Richards, who had made a number of friends in the country during his trip.
“I was really thinking about all of the individuals that I got to meet,” Richards told the Eagle. “People who really had a great sense of pride about their country and people who just showed us, as Americans, hospitality and kindness.”
At one point during his trip, Richards said he took a long walk through the capital city, walking down major streets and through underground tunnels that are now filled with residents fleeing or hiding from attacks.
Richards said he’s been in contact with several people he met during the trip in the run up to and during the Russian invasion, including a number of lawmakers. In a group chat, Ukrainians on the ground have sent Richards and others pictures of tanks rolling through the city.
“It's really heartbreaking,” he said. “Putin is a dictator and a tyrant and this invasion is nothing short of a war crime built on a foundation of flat out lies about Ukraine.”
The borough president said he heard rumblings of an escalating conflict while he was overseas.
“We know that there was passive aggression there already, and you can hear that through some of the conversations even when we were there, just speaking to different constituencies across the board in Ukraine,” he said. “Did we believe there was going to be a full out war at that time? Probably not.”
There are approximately 150,000 Ukrainians living in New York City and approximately 8,500 live in Queens, according to Census data.
Richards said that he will open Borough Hall to any Ukrainians or Russians in the borough in need of a space to gather. Though he is limited in his power, Richards offered his support to the groups living in Queens.
“Whatever ways that my voice can be lent to supporting and letting our Ukrainian family and friends and our Russian American family and friends know that we are unified and that we we stand with them during this month of pain,” he said.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine develops, Richards said he plans to reach out to the Ukrainian embassy in New York and follow their lead in regards to further actions in the five boroughs.
On Thursday, Queens City Councilmember and Speaker of the Council Adrienne Adams condemned Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.
“This avoidable violence is heartbreaking and we stand in solidarity with our Ukrainian neighbors,” Adams said.
