When Jennifer Baglivi visited U.S. Rep. Gregory Murphy at his office in Washington this week, she handed him a photograph of her son.
A former Marine from North Carolina, Alex had volunteered to fight for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
He was killed almost a year ago near the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, 30 kilometers from Russia’s border. His body has not yet come home.
Baglivi was in Washington for the eigth Ukraine Action Summit, where more than 700 delegates from every U.S. state and Puerto Rico gathered to lobby their elected representatives in support of Ukraine. Organized by a coalition of more than 50 organizations that support Ukraine, the summit gathers twice a year.
In Washington from April 19 to 22, delegates had three overarching priorities: tougher sanctions on Russia, whose full-scale war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year, expanded drone-technology cooperation with Ukraine, and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
But many have deeply personal reasons for attending as well.
Baglivi wants official U.S. recognition for people like her son, who have died fighting to defend Ukraine.
“Ukrainians by choice”
Most of the summit’s delegates are what the coalition calls “Ukrainians by choice.” They are Americans with no ancestral ties to the country who have taken up its cause anyway.
Mary Lee O’Brien, a delegate from North Carolina like Baglivi, visited 17 House and Senate offices over the three days.
“I want to be on the right side of history,” she says. “When you read about what happened during World War II, and people just turned their heads and didn’t do anything — I don’t think I could live with myself that way.”
For Baglivi, the work in Washington is a continuation of her son’s work.
“Alex fought with his skill set, in his way, with what he was good at,” she says. “I’m a licensed mental health therapist. I’m good at talking to people. I’m good at advocating. That’s what I’m doing.”
Watch Below:
