Blakeman welcomes Ukrainian consul general to Nassau County

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Blakeman welcomes Ukrainian consul general to Nassau County
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman welcomed the Ukranian consulate general to Long Island on Monday. (Photo by Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com)

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman presented an honorary citation to Ukraine Consulate General Oleksii Holubov Monday.

Blakeman welcomed the Ukrainian official to Nassau County who expressed his gratitude to the county executive and county residents for their support since the nation’s war against Russia began earlier this year.

The county shipped nine pallets of fire equipment to Ukraine in April after the Russians launched a full-scale invasion in late February at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Blakeman said the pallets consisted of hoses, helmets, jackets.

He also helped facilitate the shipment of more than 460 guns to Ukrainians last month, making it the first shipment of guns from the United States to Ukraine. The guns were obtained through a county-orchestrated gun drive.

Blakeman, along with U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck previously pledged support for Ukraine after the invasion, with some urging President Joe Biden to close the Killenworth estate, a compound in Glen Cove used by Russian diplomats to the United Nations.

In 2016, President Barack Obama’s administration ordered a Russian-owned mansion in Brookville, which was described by the U.S. government as a “recreational compound,” to be closed in late December due to Russia’s interference in the presidential election. Since then, 35 diplomats were expelled while the Killenworth estate itself was unaffected. It remains a Russian property that does not pay property taxes. 

Port Washington’s Jeff Stone and Kathy Levinson, the leaders of Project H.E.L.P. Long Island, also aided in providing support for Ukraine.

The two collected funds to distribute to a variety of international organizations, including UNICEF, Save the Children and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The funds, Stone said, were wired to those agencies to provide Ukrainian refugees with resources to survive.

Stone also said he and Levinson, along with help from the community, collected baby strollers, onesies, coats, jackets and other clothes at the Presbyterian Church in Garden City for Ukrainian refugees.

​​Great Neck’s Abby Podwall and Tori Sobiecki organized a Hoops for Humanity fund-raiser for Ukraine in conjunction with St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church. Money raised went to the Northwell Health Ukrainian Relief Fund, which has been supporting Doctors Without Borders on missions in Ukraine.

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