U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton Sees 'Remarkable Strength' During Ukraine Trip

SALEM, MA — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem) said he witnessed "nothing short of remarkable strength, resilience, and determination" among the Ukrainian people during a weekend trip to the war-torn country.

Moulton visited Ukraine and Poland as part of a bipartisan Congressional delegation from the House Armed Services Committee, along with Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).

The delegation met with U.S. troops deployed in the region in Poland before traveling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian and U.S. officials.

Moulton last traveled to the region amid the Russian military buildup in advance of its invasion in February.

"Fundamentally, the purpose of this trip was to learn firsthand how the United States can continue to best support Ukraine eight months into Putin’s brazen and illegal war," Moulton said in a statement on Monday. "Building on the trip we took last December, it was important to return to Ukraine now to see how the needs on the ground have evolved."

Moulton told Patch shortly after Russian forces began their invasion of Ukraine 10 months ago that he could not "emphasize enough how dangerous this situation is for the entire world and not just Ukraine.

"We can't say today that this is the start of World War III," he told Patch at the time. "We need to ensure that a few weeks from now we don't look back and say that it was."

While Ukrainian forces proved remarkably resilient in the face of the invasion, with the help of arms backing from the United States and other European allies, Moulton said on Monday that the world must continue to back the resistance through the ongoing threat of long-range bombings and the potential of renewed aggression.

"While no one is under any illusion that this war will end soon, it is critical that we plan both for the needs of the moment and for the longer term," Moulton said. "This includes continuing to send the right military and humanitarian aid — and quickly — to the frontlines.

"It also means thinking ahead about how to help Ukraine rebuild even stronger in the future."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)