By Victoria Spartz is a Ukrainian-born American member of Congress, serving as the U.S. Representative for Indiana’s 5th congressional district since 2021. She immigrated to the United States in 2000 and has since been deeply involved in Indiana politics. A staunch conservative, Spartz is known for her vocal advocacy of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and traditional family values.
She brings a unique perspective to Congress as an immigrant who has achieved the American Dream but since Russia’s invasion of her home country, she’s been thrust into the limelight to speak about what’s really going on in Ukraine.
It doesn’t sound good.
The Daily Caller spoke with the only member of Congress to be born in Ukraine about the ongoing war and the leadership, or lack thereof, from Volodymyr Zelensky.
“He is good at playing a hero and making grandiose statements on TV but not as heroic when it comes to fighting a real fight against Putin,” Spartz, who was born and raised in Ukraine, told the Daily Caller.
“[He] did not get [the] country ready before the war; did not deal with corruption and Russian assets in his government, and when he pretends to do it it’s just for the show – no one gets punished,” she stated.
“[He] did not put [the] country in the military mode when major war advanced in 2022; made a lot of military decisions based on theater presentations not proper strategy; is afraid of free media and criticism, so is terrorizing and smearing anyone who criticizes him.”
Spartz also chided Ukraine’s corruption and alleged that the the country’s notoriously dubious businesses and government officials frequently influence Zelenskyy.
“[He] panics easily and is controlled by crooks and shady individuals around him; and is intimidated by the military or any strong individuals, unfortunately seeing many heroic people as political opponents and trying to destroy them,” Spartz told the Daily Caller.
For all the talk about how the war in Ukraine has pitted democracy against fascism, Zelensky’s moves to fight against Russia have seen less democratic and more autocratic.
Last November, for example, the Ukranian leader ruled out holding elections unless the United States provided him with more funding.
New Conservative Post noted that “Since the Russian invasion, Zelensky has used the war as a justification for outlawing 11 opposition parties. He also invoked martial law to issue a presidential decree that combined all national television stations into one platform. On Dec. 29, 2022, Zelensky signed a new law that his party had pushed through parliament — a measure that further curbed an independent press. Other presidential actions sought to ban the Russian Orthodox Church and imposed severe sanctions on its top clerics. A growing number of people are being jailed without due process.
Zelensky and his closest colleagues have no tolerance for even the most peaceful opponents, domestic or foreign. In the summer of 2022, the Ukraine government’s Center for Countering Disinformation published a blacklist of critics that included numerous prominent Americans. The implicitly threatening nature of that list became even more evident in late September, when the CCD issued a revised roster (including addresses) of the top 35 targets and smeared those individuals as “disinformation terrorists” and ‘war criminals.’”
Of those targeted by Zelensky’s blacklist were Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Representative Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, and journalist Glenn Greenwald.”
Last month, Republicans and Democrats in Congress joined forces to send an additional $61 billion to Ukraine.
A large portion of America’s money has not gone toward military equipment to fight Russia, however. In 2022, Joe Biden bragged that American tax dollars would flow into Ukraine to pay for the pensions of their government workers so that they’ll “have something in their pocket.”
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