When local attorney Jim Nolan found an opportunity to host a delegation from Ukraine interested in learning about the United States’ rule of law and processing war crimes, he knew that Woodland was the perfect place for them to visit.
“Since I’ve been practicing law for 45 years, I have a lot of connections in the legal community and thought I could find people to answer that theme,” Nolan emphasized during the delegation’s farewell dinner Friday.
After his application for the Congressional Office for International Leadership’s Open World Program was approved, Nolan got to work recruiting club members to be host families for the delegation and volunteered himself and his wife, Barbara, to be a host family for two of the delegates.
As chairman of the Woodland Rotary Club’s Ukrainian Delegation Host Committee, Nolan was in charge of organizing a week-long trip showing several Ukrainian law professionals what life in the United States is like while also finding learning opportunities throughout the region concerning international humanitarian law.
Nolan’s week-long itinerary from April 5 to April 12 included leisurely activities such as a tour of Woodland, concerts at the UC Davis Mondavi Center, an Alcatraz Island tour and a Kings Game in Sacramento.
Additionally, Nolan organized meetings with Yolo County Superior Court Judge Daniel Maguire, UC Davis and McGeorge School of Law professors who specialize in international law and war crimes, California Court of Appeal Justice Shama Mesiwala and U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert.
“I’m glad that we had the experience of having them here and the opportunity to share their message with key people in the legal community,” Nolan remarked. “It’s an important visit by real people who are just communicating what they’re going through and how their world has gone from heaven to hell. We owe them support because they’re a democracy and they’ve not done anything wrong to deserve this.”
Olena Balzhyk is a judge in the Odesa region of Ukraine. During the farewell dinner Friday, she gave a six-part speech detailing her experience through the program including her gratitude for her host family, the Nolans, and thanked the Rotary Club for organizing a fun trip filled with important learning opportunities.
“Our country is now in the situation of war and every day there are a lot of crimes that are committed against Ukrainian people,” Balzhyk stressed. “Every Ukrainian is doing his or her best to advance our victory.”
Balzhyk said the war has made Ukrainians understand that they are not alone in “the darkest time of” their lives because of the support from countries like the United States.
“Because of you, we had the chance to tell you the truth of what’s really happening in our country,” she added. “Even if one person changed their mind… our trip was worth it. I really hope that this sparkle of our joint cooperation will continue for many, many years.”
Inna Zavorotko, a military officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, is currently deployed as the deputy head for the International Law Section of the Ministry of Defense.
She explained that this means she is essentially a military lawyer and works closely with the ministry to create materials that show the atrocities that Russian soldiers have committed in Ukraine.
“Our main thing is to tell the truth and the truth in Ukraine can be very difficult and sensitive…, but there is no other way but to tell the truth to the international community, Ukrainian society and for Russians as well,” Zavorotko stressed.
Some work she has been a part of includes broadcasting information about the war through Telegram, a popular messaging app in Russia, and other social media platforms to combat Russian propaganda.
Zavorotko said this trip is an example of “cultural diplomacy” that allowed both sides to learn from each other while also showing how similar life in Ukraine before the war was to life here.
“Our attitude to life is the same as many Americans and I think that’s also the reason why the U.S. is the strongest ally to Ukraine,” she argued. “We’re really grateful for those host families who opened their own houses for us. I really felt like I was at home.”
As she prepared for her two-day long trip back to Ukraine that will include multiple connecting fights and a 13-hour train ride, Zavorotko was happy to have learned that the values Americans hold are the same as the ones she and Ukrainians have been fighting for.
“It means a lot to us because we’re fighting for common values and we sacrifice our own lives,” Zavorotko remarked. “That’s why it’s very important to us to understand that we have strong allies, that we have people who think in the same way as we do and that we are fighting and dying not only for our own values but for the values of the international community.”
Mykola Mazur, Ukrainian Supreme Court Justice for the last six years, said the trip enlightened him on how the United States judicial system works concerning prosecution and crime investigation.
However, another key goal he and his group came into this program with was to show people what Ukraine has been going through.
“We showed how our life changed after 2014 and especially after 2022 when full-scale invasion started,” he said. “We didn’t know war could happen with us… but it happened.”
Mazur still remembers the first day of the war when he was woken up by missile sirens at 5 a.m. in Kyiv.
“I have three children so you could imagine my feelings as well as millions of other Ukrainians because Russia launched their missiles all over Ukraine,” he emphasized.
Two years into the war, he said Ukraine has more than 130,000 criminal proceedings for war crimes committed in Ukraine by Russian soldiers. One case he recalled was in Bucha where more than 600 civilians were killed.
In another case, he said Russian soldiers put an entire small village of roughly 300 people in a school basement with little food and water.
“Ten of them died,” he stressed. “They spent weeks there with no food or water and there were pregnant people there in the cold.”
The delegation visit was eye-opening to Nolan and his colleagues and reinforced their stance that Congress should advance wartime funding for Ukraine.
“There’s a small group of very right-wing Republicans that are holding budgetary approval not just for Ukraine, but for other things because they’re just playing politics,” Nolan argued. “I think if we don’t support Ukraine, it’s a drastic mistake. War could break out in other places besides Ukraine so it’s vital to get the aid package passed.”
According to the Associated Press, House Speaker Mike Johnson is negotiating with the White House as he prepares to advance wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel.
House Republican Leader Steve Scalise said Johnson was speaking with White House officials about a package that would deviate from the Senate’s $95 billion foreign security package and include several Republican demands, according to the Associated Press.
“There’s been no agreement reached,” the Associated Press reported Scalise saying. “Obviously there would have to be an agreement reached not just with the White House, but with our own members.”
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