Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and Kyiv Oblast Governor Ruslan Kravchenko signed a ceremonial Sister State Agreement with the Kyiv Region in Ukraine. A significant historical event took place on Friday, March 15 at Tacoma City Hall, Washington State Governor's Office reported.

This is the first such relationship between an American state and a Ukrainian region since the war began in 2022.

According to Washington State Governor's Office information, Washington has welcomed more than 24,000 displaced Ukrainians since the war began, and over 6% of all Ukrainian refugees to the United States have settled in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area. The state Department of Social and Health Services now supports 11,860 Ukrainian households with food assistance.

Executive Director of the Ukrainian Community Center of WA, Oleh Pynda attended a ceremonial Sister State Agreement.

“It is important to maintain support for Ukraine and Ukrainians. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Community Center has handed over hundreds of tourniquets, UAVs, clothes, medical equipment, hygiene products, and medicines to Ukraine,” Oleh Pynda said.

In 2023, two outdoor equipment companies worked with the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington (UCCW) to send 3,500 water filtration systems to Ukraine. They arrived in the nick of time. Enemy action had breached the Nova Kakhovka Dam, flooding the countryside of Kherson Region and contaminating drinking water. Those filters made potable water for thousands of local families.

Note, if you would like to support Ukraine or the services UCCWA provides to Ukrainians follow the link to donate – https://uccwa.org/programs/support-ukraine/?submit.x=55&submit.y=16&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1DbfRSePHvUxOK0eq_zsvSe1LLP0hSb95rFQAKmSX_29tBgNtGbSF5Y54_aem_Kb6kRMgUTnZx84_pu4DZhg.

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