Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova speaks via Zoom at the 2022 CUNA GAC in Washington, D.C. (Source: CUNA)
During Tuesday morning's general session of CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference, attendees received an update and urgent message from the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who spoke via a Zoom livestream inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Once Markarova's image appeared on multiple screens in the conference hall, the audience gave her a standing ovation.
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"Right now we don't have any other choice but to defend our home. We don't have another. Everyone in Ukraine, our president — who made the extraordinary decision to stay in Kyiv — our government, our armed forces, national guard, police, ordinary people, including women and girls," she said.
Russian troops began invading Ukraine last week. According to the Ukrainian government, hundreds of citizens and military personnel have died in combat and attacks by Russian military forces.
During her speech, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle posted on Twitter, "Our prayers and support are with the Ukrainian people."
Ambassador Markarova, who previously was the minister of finance for Ukraine, said the support from Ukrainian credit unions has been a tremendous help.
"The 12 wonderful Ukrainian credit unions here in America helped the Ukrainian cause even before we gained our independence 30 years ago," she said. "The Ukrainian credit unions were essential in supporting our fight for freedom."
Anatoli Murha, SVP of Ukrainian Selfreliance FCU, speaks at CUNA's GAC in Washington, D.C. (Source: CUNA) SVP of the Feasterville, Pa.-based Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union ($416 million in assets, 12,020 members), Anatoli Murha, who introduced Ambassador Markarova, told the GAC audience that Ukrainian American credit unions have raised and wired more than $700,000 to support those on the front lines.
During a pre-GAC event on Sunday, the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) announced the creation of the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund to help mitigate impacts to the Ukrainian credit union system as Russian troops continue their violent offensive against the country.
Within the first few hours, WFCU officials said it had already raised $43,000.
Ambassador Markarova asked the audience to support the Ukrainian American Credit Union Association as the battle for Ukraine continues.
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Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
