U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton will bring Salem resident Oleksandra Kovalchuk, a Ukrainian national who works to protect heritage sites and museums in her home country, as his guest to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday.
Kovalchuk had to cross several countries with her husband and son after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, before she and her family were able to board a flight to the United States to stay with her parents, who live on the North Shore.
Kovalchuk is currently the deputy director of development at the Odesa National Fine Arts Museum and was previously a member of the Odesa City Council.
“I’m honored to be accompanied to the State of the Union this year by Oleksandra, whose important work is not just a reminder of the vast toll that this war is taking on Ukraine’s invaluable cultural and historical institutions, but also a testament to the unflappable spirit and resilience of the Ukrainian people,” Moulton said in a statement.
According to the statement, Kovalchuk works to preserve Ukrainian culture and identity in the wake of the war. She has presented at Boston University, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, and the House of the Seven Gables since coming to the United States.
Moulton has been a strong supporter of sending American aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
“Ukraine is facing an existential crisis for survival,” Moulton said. “We need to help Ukraine end this war on its own terms. If the United States turns its back on Ukraine now, it will only embolden Putin — and it will show other autocrats, like Xi Jinping in China, that the U.S. doesn’t credibly stand up for democracies when they’re under threat. This is the right thing to do, and it’s an investment in our own national security.”
