Members of the Colorado Senate on Friday came together in support of Ukraine, unanimously passing a joint resolution to stand alongside Ukraine and condemn Russia.

On Thursday, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, hitting cities and military bases with airstrikes in what Ukraine’s government has called a “full-scale war.” At least 137 people were killed and 316 were injured in the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Thursday night. 

“We, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, proudly stand alongside Ukraine, its people and its leaders during this horrific and unnecessary war, and vow to support Ukraine and hold Russia fully accountable for its catastrophic decision to invade,” read Friday’s resolution.

The Senate unanimously passed the resolution after emotional testimony from senators. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the resolution on Monday. The bipartisan resolution was sponsored in the Senate by Colorado Springs Republican Sen. Bob Gardner and Denver Democrat Sen. Chris Hansen.

Gardner said he previously visited Ukraine to work as an international election observer, watching the residents of northern neighborhoods of Kyiv vote.

Ukraine’s capital under threat as Russia presses invasion

“Those neighborhoods had missiles fall on them in the past 24 hours. I thought about those people who I didn’t know but whose faces I saw. They weren’t any different than the people that I saw as a party poll watcher in Colorado,” Gardner said. “We must support Ukraine in every way we can.”

Sen. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, said she felt a deep connection to the conflict as her maternal grandmother is from Kyiv, Ukraine and her maternal grandfather is from Moscow, Russia. She said they both immigrated to the United States in search of a better life.

“I don’t know how to express my concern,” Ginal said. “I never thought that I would see this happen to us and I hope that we can come to some sort of agreement to stop this where we are right now. These are wonderful people who don’t deserve to be in this situation.”

In addition to supporting Ukraine, the resolution urges Russia to end its attack and declares the Colorado legislature’s endorsement of economic sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia by President Joe Biden. On Thursday, Biden said the U.S. will block Russian bank assets, impose technology-focused export controls and sanction the nation’s business oligarchs.

Biden and European officials have not yet kicked Russia out of SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions, but Hansen said the resolution supports excluding Russian banks from the SWIFT system, calling for the use of the “strongest possible sanctions.” 

Polis: Colorado to impose its own sanctions against Russia

“We are in the middle of a full-scale war,” Hansen said. “President Putin has made a gamble. He’s made a gable that the West’s reliance on Russian oil and gas will put him in a strong position and that this will be a win for his idea of a greater Russia. We have a responsibility in this country and in this state to call his bluff, to make sure that that gamble was a terrible miscalculation.”

Some senators also called for further military action from the U.S. during Friday’s resolution vote. 

As Biden announced the sanctions on Russia, he said U.S. armed forces will not engage in the conflict. Some 7,000 additional U.S. troops will be sent to Germany to bolster NATO, but will not fight in Ukraine, he said.

“I think, Mr. Putin, that you are hoping no one will stand up to you. I pray we do,” said Sen. Chris Holbert, R-Douglas County. “If you think parents in this nation are war hawks and are desperate to send our sons and daughters to confront you, certainly not. But if you think we are soft and that our sons and daughters won’t come to fight for freedom again, you are wrong. We know freedom here.”

If passed by the House, copies of the resolution will be sent to the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, as well as to all of Colorado’s congressional members.

Colorado’s politicians join world leaders in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine