Victoria Spratz initially spoke out in support of her home country (Picture: Getty)
A Ukrainian-born congresswoman who voted against aid to her home country has been slammed by residents in her hometown.
Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, who represents Indiana, is the first Ukrainian-born member of congress – but she voted against a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine.
The sense of betrayal from Spartz’ hometown of Chernihiv was heightened, as the vote came days after a bombing in the town that killed 18 people.
In an email defending her decision, Spartz said it is ‘Actually offensive and un-American to think that as an American my loyalty would not be to the people who elected me to represent them and to my family and children back home in Indiana, but to some foreign government in the country I left 24 years ago.’
But Spartz’s decision to vote against aid to her home country is one of the latest turns she’s made in terms of policy.
She first ran on a platform supporting Donald Trump, but later stood by Biden’s side as he signed a law to ramp up support to Ukraine in April 2022.
Chernihiv has continued to be hit by bombs and shelling (Picture: AP)
Spartz previously voted to send Ukraine aid (Picture: AP)
Spartz also previously voted to send $40 billion to Ukraine, and defended Ukraine in speeches in congress.
The city’s acting mayor, Oleksandr Lomako, met Spartz when she travelled to the city after the invasion.
Lomako said: ‘I’m very disappointed. She’s been here.’
Spartz’s grandmother was one of the citizens of Chernihiv who was trapped during shelling in the early war.
But the summer after she revisited her hometown, which has continued to suffer heavy damages, Spartz began to change her tune and criticise Zelensky.
Valentyna Rudenok, 65, worked as a librarian at the school where Spartz studied, and told the Washington Post of her disappointment after learning of her recent vote against further aid to Ukraine.
A recent missile strike in Chernihiv killed 17 people (Picture: EPA)
Locals in her hometown have been left confused by the vote (Picture: Getty)
She said: ‘When we read about it, we just didn’t understand — it was like she became a different person.
‘It was shocking because this woman got so far in her life and is in a position where she could actually influence and help our one city or our one school in which she was educated.’
During the vote, Spartz said: ‘President Biden and President Zelensky failed the Ukrainian people.’
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Spartz has also claimed part of her reason of campaigning against aid is the ‘corruption’ in Ukraine.
Oleksandr Serdyuk, 70, a close friend of Spartz’s father, told the Washington Post: ‘I understand the fight against corruption.
‘But what you’re sacrificing is our state. … Any political motives or election motives don’t justify the deaths of so many people.’
Spartz has been contacted for comment.
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