Florida Senate - 2022 (NP) SR By Senator Polsky 29-03433-22 20221990__ CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Senate Resolution A resolution condemning the ruthless military assault on Ukraine, and on democracy itself, by Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressing unwavering support for the Ukrainian people in this extraordinary time. 6

WHEREAS, Ukraine, which regained its independence in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, is a unitary republic in Eastern Europe, the second largest country in Europe in terms of area and, with a population of 43.6 million, the eighth most populous, and

WHEREAS, Ukraine has moved toward becoming a full-fledged democracy with an elected president and an independent parliament and membership in the United Nations and the Council of Europe, and

WHEREAS, in March 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin, 17 an authoritarian dictator of a Communist regime, personally directed the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by Russia and has continued to support and encourage Russian separatists inside Ukraine in an attempt to further divide the country, and

WHEREAS, Ukraine is bordered by Russia on the east and northeast and also shares borders with Belarus to the north; 23 Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and Romania and Moldova to the south, and, in 2016, applied for the economic component of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union (EU), which would strengthen the nation’s ties to the West and would modernize and develop Ukraine’s economy, 28 governance, and rule of law to EU standards, and Florida Senate - 2022 (NP) SR 1990 29-03433-22 20221990__ CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

WHEREAS, Vladimir Putin has continued to undermine the efforts of Ukraine’s directly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who took office in May after winning more than 32 percent of the popular vote, and

WHEREAS, on February 22, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered Russian military forces to enter two Ukrainian republics, 35 Donetsk and Luhansk, on what he called a “peacekeeping mission,” 36 officially recognizing both as sovereign states fully independent from the Ukrainian government, and

WHEREAS, in the early hours of February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine, launching an unprovoked and deadly attack and invading an independent nation, thereby threatening world peace, and

WHEREAS, the United States of America is committed to the growth and spread of democracy worldwide and stands with the Ukrainian people suffering at the hands of Vladimir Putin, many of whom face grave harm or even death under the crush of his ruthless military assault,

NOW, THEREFORE, 47