PASSAIC — Two members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation railed against President Donald Trump on Sunday over his approach to ending the war in Ukraine as the conflict enters its third year.
The invasion hit close to home in New Jersey, which has one of the nation’s largest populations of Ukrainian Americans.
“To hear the president of the United States say the things he has said about Ukraine is absolutely painful,” freshman Rep. Nellie Pou, D-North Haledon, said during a memorial service recognizing the war’s third anniversary, held Sunday morning at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Passaic. “I will reject … the president’s lies about Ukraine.”
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Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate from Montclair, said in a prepared statement presented Sunday by a congressional staffer from her office that Trump opted to “turn his back on Ukraine.”
The war enters its third year as of Monday, the anniversary of when Russia launched several major offensives into Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was thrust into the international spotlight, and the United States pledged support to the Eastern European nation, in what ultimately became a proxy war with Russia.
But Trump, just over a month into his second term, has largely flipped the script when it comes to U.S. dealings with Russia.
While former President Joe Biden referred to Vladimir Putin as a “pure thug” and “brutal tyrant,” Trump has shown a willingness to engage, and potentially negotiate, with Putin, the longtime Russian leader.
During the 2024 presidential election, Trump also repeatedly criticized ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine.
Ihor Drozdyak, is greeted at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, Sunday February 23, 2025, in Passaic. Drozdyak, was living in Lincoln Park when the full-scale invasion started and went to fight for Ukraine for more than two years before returning home to New Jersey.
“It’s very stupid,” said Ihor Drozdyak, a dual U.S.-Ukrainian citizen and Ukrainian soldier, who has lived in Lincoln Park with his wife since 2013. “We don’t understand what game [Trump] plays, with who. He want to play with us or with Putin … He’s very confused.”
Drozdyak volunteered to fight in the conflict against Russia, serving as a rifleman and artillery commander. Before the war, he was a truck driver, and his wife currently lives in Ukraine.
Other New Jerseyans have felt a sense of betrayal by the current administration, after Biden pledged his support for Ukraine.
“Trump can’t possibly think we should reward Russia for invading another country,” North Jersey resident Motrja Fedorko previously told NorthJersey.com.
Fedorko is a Ukrainian whose parents moved to the U.S. before she was born and whose sister now lives in Lviv. “It’s against international law. If we allow a bully to do that, what will happen to the rest of Europe?”
New Jerseyans have hosted local drives to support the war effort over the years, donating money and supplies to Ukraine, said George Oliarnyk, vice president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America’s Bergen-Passaic chapter, which hosted the Sunday memorial service.
Father Yaroslav Yarish, of St. Mary Protectress Orthodox Church, in Clifton, stands beside Father Andriy Dudkevych, at the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, Sunday February 23, 2025, in Passaic.
“They don’t want Ukraine to capitulate. They want security guarantees. They don’t want a ceasefire that’s going to last a very short period of time so Russia can reload and relaunch an attack on Ukraine,” Oliarnyk said.
Others like Drozdyak have physically volunteered to fight on the front lines.
And others still, like Victor Voytyuk, who now lives in Clifton with his wife, have tried to acclimate to American life working in a metal shop.
Voytyuk previously received a medical discharge after a leg injury from a drone attack that injured him and his commander. He has since resided in Passaic County.
Trump takes a different stance from his predecessor’s on Ukraine
Although Trump says he’s pushing for a deal to end the war, he alarmed supporters of Ukraine by reversing America’s policy of isolating Russia after its 2022 attack. He left Ukraine out of his initial talks and instead held a lengthy phone conversation with Putin on Feb. 12.
Trump blamed Ukraine for the invasion and called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections,” who should act quickly to secure peace or else lose his country.
Trump previously also floated the prospect of a future meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in the region, though an exact date has not been set. Zelenskyy has not received an invitation to the talks, he told NBC.
Victor Voytyuk and Ihor Drozdyak are shown with their hands on their hearts while singing the Ukrainian National Anthem, Sunday February 23, 2025, in Passaic. Hundreds packed St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church for a memorial service marking the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
In a social media post, Trump attacked Zelenskyy, writing: “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 billion dollars, to go into a war that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a war that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP’ will never be able to settle.”
On Sunday, Zelenskyy publicly stated that he would step down from his role as president in return for peace and Ukraine’s admission into NATO, various media reports said.
Bipartisan opposition to Russia’s invasion
The offices of Republican representatives for New Jersey — Reps. Tom Kean, Jr., Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew — did not immediately return emails Sunday afternoon seeking comment.
Kean met with Zelenskyy last April in his capacity as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe after the approval of an aid package to Ukraine, said a statement from his office.
“It is important that we stand with Ukrainians, as they fight for freedom and democracy,” Kean said at the time.
This article contains material from USA TODAY.
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
Email: [email protected]; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic NJ event held for Ukraine-Russia war anniversary
