Lawmakers are demanding more ‘lethal aid’ for Ukraine after 10 senators visited Germany and Poland over the weekend as a GOP senator warned that the U.S. will need to ‘constantly’ send military assistance in the midst of Russia’s invasion.
‘Our bipartisan delegation met with brave, outspoken leaders of Ukrainian civil society,’ Republican Senator Joni Ernst tweeted from Poland on Sunday,
‘Their message was clear,’ the Iowa lawmaker added, ‘We need more lethal aid delivered and we need it now. My colleagues and I shared their message with Polish and American media.’
Ernst led the delegation of 10 lawmakers to Ukraine’s border with Poland. Two of the senators on the trip are Democrats Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, as well as independent Senator Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats.
The remaining are all Republicans – Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to pull his troops out of Ukraine after launching a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
Far-right Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said that ‘Americans’ hard earned tax dollars’ shouldn’t be used to send this ‘lethal aid’ as she shared a potential Russian disinformation video.
The video alleges to show ‘tortures, abuses, humiliation’ of those being ‘punished’ in Ukraine, and while a watermark on the video claims to be ‘Telegram channel Real Kiev’, the writing in is Russian and not Ukrainian.
After a bipartisan delegation of 10 senators met with Ukrainian leaders in Europe over the weekend, Senator Joni Ernst (center at microphone) said during a press conference in Poland: ‘Their message was clear: We need more lethal aid delivered and we need it now’
![Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas (right) meets with Texan service members deployed to Germany to support North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/20/14/55578151-10632897-image-a-3_1647786445981.jpg)
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas (right) meets with Texan service members deployed to Germany to support North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies
![The bipartisan delegation of 10 senators visited a refugee center in Poland and met with people fleeing Ukraine, as well as spoke with volunteers about their efforts to support those displaced by the conflict](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/20/14/55578191-10632897-image-a-5_1647786475605.jpg)
The bipartisan delegation of 10 senators visited a refugee center in Poland and met with people fleeing Ukraine, as well as spoke with volunteers about their efforts to support those displaced by the conflict
‘I’m strongly opposed to Putin’s invasion & Russia’s war in Ukraine and I’m strongly opposed to this,’ Greene tweeted with the video, altering viewers of a ‘graphic warning’ and claiming ‘torture and abuse of Ukrainian people including women and children.’
She accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces are ‘torturing his own people’ and said that the U.S. aid is going to ‘possible Nazi militias,’ which is repeating Russian rhetoric.
‘The US must demand Zelensky stop his military from torturing his own people,’ Greene claimed. ‘We should not spend billions of American’s hard earned tax dollars on lethal aid to be given to possible Nazi militias that are torturing innocent people, especially children and women.’
‘It’s not Pro-Putin to be against this,’ she insisted. ‘It’s Pro-torture & evil to stay silent/censor it.’
During the lawmakers’ trip this weekend, the group met with NATO partners, U.S. forces in Europe and volunteers and was able to gather with Ukrainian refugees during a visit to a Polish refugee processing center.
Since the conflict broke out last month, more than 3.2 million refugees have fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations, which calculates the number of fleeing Ukrainians every four days.
The vast majority of those fleeing Ukraine are landing in Poland, which is their immediate neighbor to the west.
![Refugees from Ukraine stand in line for food in Dresden, Germany on Sunday, March 20, 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/20/14/55578491-10632897-image-a-6_1647786820392.jpg)
Refugees from Ukraine stand in line for food in Dresden, Germany on Sunday, March 20, 2022
Poland’s Ambassador to the U.S. Marek Magierowski told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning that the country has been ‘managing this crisis remarkably well so far,’ accepting 2 million refugees in just three weeks.
Magierowski admitted, however, it has been a ‘logistic’ and ‘social’ burden as somewhere between 60,000-80,000 Ukrainian children have been incorporated into the Polish schooling system.
‘Many mayors of Polish cities are now in talks with their counterparts in Europe and beyond about the possibility of relocation, because, again, in the longer term, we have done our utmost to accommodate the Ukrainian refugees, to host them in our homes.’
‘But, of course, two million people,’ he said, ‘it’s a huge number.’
Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican who was no among the delegation in Europe over the weekend, said the U.S. may need to ‘constantly’ send military aid to Ukraine to help them in their fight against Russia.
‘Ukrainians have the will to fight,’ Sasse told Fox News Sunday. ‘We need to have the will to rearm them constantly.’
It comes after Congress already approved another $10.6 billion in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine.
Ernst, a combat veteran, called Putin a ‘weak man’ for his actions against Ukraine.
‘It is a truly weak man that targets children, elderly women. Putin is a weak leader,’ she said over the weekend.
‘He may be trying to project strength, but he is a weak man when he’s going after weak individuals.’
The comment comes as Russia continues to target civilians, including women and children, in the offensive in Ukraine.
![Pictured: The senators met with NGOs on Saturday to hear an update on the humanitarian impact of Putin’s war](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/20/14/55578219-10632897-image-a-4_1647786469019.jpg)
Pictured: The senators met with NGOs on Saturday to hear an update on the humanitarian impact of Putin’s war
![From L-R: Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/20/14/55578189-10632897-image-a-2_1647786440502.jpg)
From L-R: Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa
Authorities in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said Sunday that the Russian military has bombed an art school where about 400 people had taken refuge.
The school building was destroyed and people could remain under the rubble, but there was no immediate word on casualties.
Terrifying footage emerged apparently showing Russia firing deadly thermobaric TOS-1A rockets, which can allegedly melt human organs.
Moscow defense sources claimed: ‘The TOS-1A Solntsepek was used against Ukrainian nationalists by the people’s militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic with the support of the Russian army during a special operation in Ukraine.’
Meanwhile, authorities in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv say at least five civilians, including a nine-year-old boy, have been killed in the latest Russian shelling.
Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s siege of the port city was ‘a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come’.
![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the U.S. Congress last week (pictured) and asked for the establishment of a no-fly zone above Ukraine and for fighter jets to defend the country's air space](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/03/20/14/55578489-10632897-Ukrainian_President_Volodymyr_Zelensky_demanded-m-9_1647786872696.jpg)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the U.S. Congress last week (pictured) and asked for the establishment of a no-fly zone above Ukraine and for fighter jets to defend the country’s air space
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