Lori Trahan visits Poland with bipartisan delegation

By Jacob Vitali

On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan left for Warsaw, Poland, as part of a seven-member, bipartisan Congressional delegation.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw has quickly become the epicenter of the refugee crisis. Nearly 2 million refugees have sought assistance in the Polish capital.

When Trahan spoke to a reporter after 10 p.m. Warsaw time Monday, the lawmaker was tired from a packed itinerary that included meeting with embassy officials and nongovernmental organizations like the Polish Red Cross and the Torwar Refugee Assistance Center.

Lawmakers also visited the World Central Kitchen, which has supplied refugees with meals, and the Przemysl Train Station, a popular entry near the Ukrainian border.

“It’s been a real roller-coaster of emotion,” Trahan said. “On the one hand, you’re seeing people pull together as folks in communities always do, to lend assistance. But it’s just so heart wrenching to see families in this predicament, people just like you and I are fleeing violence in desperation, having nothing but a few bags, all their belongings, not knowing if they’re ever going to return.”

One interaction the Westford Democrat remembers was with a mother. The woman fled Ukraine with her three sons, all under the age of 10, as well as her daughter and her mother. They didn’t want to leave Lviv, but they were forced to after witnessing the devastation brought by bomb shelling.

“She had no choice but it was time,” Trahan said. “She didn’t want to go and she’s very hopeful that she’ll be back.”

Before leaving home, the woman left her farm animals and pets with a neighbor, instructions included. It’s a story seen throughout the conflict, Trahan said.

“You talk to families and the reason why some people aren’t going on to other countries in Europe and they’re staying in Poland is because they want to go back,” Trahan said. “Sometimes they’re going back just to check on other families. Some people are going back to fight and some people just want to be ready to go back as soon as it’s safe.”

Trahan said it has been “devastating” to speak with families that have been forced to separate from loved ones — especially fathers and brothers, who have stayed behind. Many of the refugees are women and children.

“They’re shaken,” Trahan said. “They’re shaken because their communities and their cities are getting shelled. They’re having to say goodbye to loved ones and friends, and their future is pretty uncertain.”

Through being on the ground, Trahan said her belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin underestimated the Ukrainian people has only been strengthened. She has “never seen a greater display of conviction and fortitude.”

“They want their independence, nothing more than their freedom, and their resolve is just really something I’ve never experienced or seen this intense, up close,” Trahan said.

While Poland has quickly become the epicenter of the refugee crisis, Trahan said there was a feeling that people are on edge. Last week, Russia targeted a Ukrainian military base in Yavoriv, 10 miles from the Polish border.

“Right now, I think the bordering countries are doing two things. One, they’re preparing. No one is going to make any sort of predictions in terms of how far Vladimir Putin is going to go in his unjustified war and trying to reunite the Soviet Union,” Trahan said. “But they’re also assisting with getting aid to folks who need it. They’re assisting with the humanitarian and refugee crisis that are happening right on their border.”

Trahan added that through the last three weeks, she believes that NATO has never been stronger and the countries have rallied together against the “immoral and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”

The delegation is being led by Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of Boston. Other representatives on the trip include Democrats Chellie Pingree of Maine and Republicans Jake LaTurner of Kansas, Pat Fallon of Texas, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Mark Green of Tennessee.