Ukranian official bringing ‘shopping list’ to Arizona Legislature joint session

PHOENIX – Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers said a Ukrainian official is bringing a “shopping list” to a special joint session of the Legislature this week.

Bowers invited Dmytro Kushneruk, consul general of Ukraine in San Francisco, to speak to Arizona lawmakers on the House floor at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The gallery will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, and the proceedings will be livestreamed.

“He definitely is coming with a shopping list,” Bowers told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Wednesday.

The Republican said Kushneruk is seeking financial aid — “cash is the best,” Bowers said – and medical supplies for Ukraine, which has been at war since being invaded by Russia on Feb. 24.

“They definitely need relief in medical areas though, for the population and the soldiers and the victims of the atrocities that have been happening,” Bowers said.

“He will come and discuss that all with us on the floor, and we invite everybody to come.”

The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs already has collected about 9,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, including bulletproof vests and other protective gear, donated by state and local law enforcement agencies to send to Ukraine.

Bowers said it’s important for the state to go through official channels to make sure the aid gets into the right hands.

“There are military flights going into Europe on a regular basis, coming out of our bases here in Arizona, and [they] are able to put additional supplies on those in order to get those to our bases and then to known relief agencies that have channels into Ukraine,” he said.

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