Speaker at U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing says Putin invaded Ukraine to recreate Soviet-era empire; defends NATO as defensive

Commenter, a speaker during a hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine to try to "reinstitute and recreate the failed Soviet Union" and called him a "war criminal." The speaker said oligarchs and a ruling elite benefit while the Russian people are exploited.

The speaker framed the invasion as motivated by imperial aims rather than legitimate security concerns, saying "there's really only 1 reason, why, war criminal Putin invaded Ukraine. And it's because he wants to reinstitute and recreate the failed Soviet Union, and he wants to create that empire." The remarks were delivered as part of a public statement recorded in the hearing transcript.

The speaker rejected a Russian justification that the invasion was intended to prevent NATO from approaching Russia's borders, saying "NATO is a defensive organization" and noting that Russia has bordered NATO since 1949 through Norway. The speaker cited Finland and Sweden's decisions to end long-standing neutrality as an "extraordinary" and unintended consequence: "Finland has an 8 30 mile border with, the Russian Federation and and now a member of NATO, and how extraordinary the unintended consequence of Finland and Sweden giving up 200 years of neutrality." The transcript phrasing of the Finland border figure was unclear.

The speaker also recounted personal visits to Russia, saying they had been to St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk, and quoted a Novosibirsk billboard reading, in English, "welcome to Novosibirsk. Times have changed." The speaker identified Chelyabinsk as a sister city of their home community of Columbia, South Carolina, and said those visits made the current situation in Russia especially sad to them.

The remarks also referenced a congressional perspective, with the speaker saying, "Congressman Costa is right," describing Russia as "a mafia, with oligarchs who are being benefici benefited, and the people of Russia are being taken advantage of." The transcript contains that attribution; the hearing record does not show a formal debate or vote on the remarks.

No formal actions, motions, votes or decisions related to these remarks are recorded in the transcript. The statement appears in the public record as a speaker's testimony or comment during the commission hearing; no staff direction or agency action is indicated in the provided segments.