Sen. Chris Murphy told the audience he is confident in the ability of the Ukrainian army, but they need serious upgrades.
Ukrainian Americans, many with family members still living in the country, packed Hartford's Ukrainian National Home for the town hall meeting about the situation in the Eastern European country.
Both Senators talked about a 2013 visit to the country's capital Kiev, and feeling a sense of responsibility to the country after addressing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian demonstrators who were opposed to then-President Yanikovich's decision to renege on a pledge to join the European Union.
Speaking to the gathering, Republican Senator John McCain used Russian President Vladimir Putin's own words to explain his case for more military and financial help to Ukraine.
"How many times has he said the greatest disaster of the 20th century was the breakup of the Soviet Union" said McCain. "He uses a Russian phrase a lot which means 'the old Russian empire,' and if we understand that, then perhaps we can better cope with his ambitions."
Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has joined McCain in urging the Obama administration to release $300 million in lethal assistance authorized by congress to Ukraine.
Murphy told the audience he is confident in the ability of the Ukrainian army, but they need serious upgrades, especially in the area of technology.
"When the Russian army advances, they have the technology to essentially be able to block out and scramble all of the communications equipment that the Ukrainian military is using," said Murphy. "When the Russian army is advancing, the ability to simply communicate with each other is essentially stopped."
