'Everyone knows John McCain in Ukraine': Arizona groups continue late senator's work in Ukraine

Lynndy Smith walked up and down the gray-paved road of John McCain Street under a blue sky.

Accompanied by Robert Medler, Tina Waddington, David Cook and other members of the Arizona Defense and Industry Coalition, she took in the torn windows, walls and doors.

Dmytro Liubota was showing the coalition members around his war-torn city of Kyiv, where he works for Ukraine's Kharkiv Parliament.

The street's namesake, the late six-term Republican U.S. senator from Arizona, John McCain, is well-known by locals.

"You cannot (even) imagine. Everyone knows John McCain in Ukraine," Liubota said. "We remember him."

For years leading up to Russia's invasions of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, McCain began warning the American government of Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression.

McCain had established himself as a Putin critic, telling The Arizona Republic in 2014 that one of his biggest disappointments was the U.S. "failure to give Ukraine weapons with which to defend themselves while their country is being dismembered by Vladimir Putin."

After McCain became chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee the following year, he encouraged the development of the Arizona Defense and Industry Coalition.

McCain's legacy lives on through the organization, which has made efforts to maintain a partnership with Ukraine. Smith, the president of the Arizona coalition, said she knew that stepping in after the 2022 Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine is something McCain would have wanted.

"High on his priority list was opening up clearer lines of communication between Congress and America’s defense industry," the Arizona Defense and Industry Coalition website reads. "That meant creating a pool of localized knowledge that he and his Washington colleagues could reach back to for on-the-ground insight."

That localized knowledge draws from Arizona's six military installations, four National Guard operations, more than 1,200 defense contractors and more than 76,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state.

What started as using the coalition's network to reach out to defense contractors to get civilian resources became, to Smith's knowledge, the first American delegation to stay in Ukraine for an extended period. While there, they made a connection and a partnership that the group believes will last beyond the war.

Ukrainian delegates visited Arizona in March

Liubota and a group of Ukrainian delegates made the journey to Arizona in March 2022 at the invitation of the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations. In weather that wasn't unlike their own in the summer, the delegates witnessed the state's efforts to help Ukraine.

Arizona's defense contractors met with the delegation to determine how they could provide supplies for citizens to protect themselves from the dangers of war.

“Their passion and dedication to creating productive solutions for Ukraine will have a significant impact on our ability to succeed during this crisis," Liubota said.

Televised images of Ukrainian officials visiting Washington have become commonplace, but more than a year into the war, Liubota said, this visit was the first time they've experienced such strong support on a state level. The coalition made Arizona's specialty fields available to the Ukrainians, who otherwise would have had to go through the federal government.

"Every important visit of our president, our delegation, (has been in) Washington, D.C. Somehow, everybody forgot that the United States is federal," he said.

They visited Arizona at a time when national support for the war in Ukraine was wavering. According to a Pew Research study, 26% of Republicans said that America is giving "too much" aid to war efforts in January 2023. In March 2022, that number was 7%.

Irene Amrine, the founder of Cactus and Tryzub, a volunteer initiative that supports Ukraine, said that people don't want to see Ukraine on the news anymore.

"I feel like the war fatigue is definitely setting in," Amrine said. "People just shut it out."

Liubota said he hopes to set an example for other members of Parliament: "We must do work like this on every state level. When I came to Arizona, people finally saw a real member of Parliament."

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What the Arizonans saw on the ground in Ukraine

When the Arizona delegation came to Ukraine in June 2023, Liubota said it was that same spirit of on-the-ground support that motivated their interactions.

Unlike state-sponsored trips, the delegation did not have any type of security accompanying them into the war zone. Instead, they entered the country under the same conditions they would have entered anywhere else.

"We did what anyone would do if they were going there as a tourist, as weird as that sounds," Smith said.

Having only met Liubota once in Arizona, she took a chance on him and he took a chance on her.

"They came to our country, which is at war, despite the risks of their own lives," Liubota said.

The delegation met with top Ukraine officials including the deputy minister of foreign affairs, the deputy minister of defense, the deputy minister of strategic industries, the deputy minister for cybersecurity, the deputy chair of the Kyiv Regional State Administration and the directorate of intelligence of the Ministry of Defense.

Smith took notes of everything and said she recorded every interaction.

"We (didn't) just want a photo op, we wanted to continue to develop this relationship," she said.

Aside from visiting the capital, the delegation went to Irpin, a smaller city outside Kyiv near the Dnipro River. There, they saw the impacts of war firsthand.

"They're really rebounding in Kyiv and that's great," Smith said. "But for those areas that don't have a missile defense system, they're just getting decimated."

Gone were the sturdy, buildings of the National University of State Tax Service of Ukraine, which once had a student union, dorms and student government.

A basketball court survived Russia's attack with a "massive" hole in the center, just five meters from a 150-person bunker. There was nobody to play basketball, though. Smith said that civilians were busy rebuilding their apartment buildings.

"In no way were those people ever signing up for something like that," she said.

They saw schools, hospitals and churches with bullet holes across the walls. But Smith said they are working to rebuild their community already, despite a continued threat of violence.

Arizona's agreement called 'Sister Cities on steroids'

The Arizona Legislature has entered into a formal memorandum of understanding to establish long-term communication and actions with the Synergy of the Development of Ukraine. They've also arranged a platform for more than 1,200 defense contractors to discuss priorities for drone surveillance, munitions and aircraft maintenance.

Smith called their partnership a "Sister Cities on steroids" agreement. State Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, said he's "overwhelmed with joy" at the future relationship between his state and Ukraine.

"The level of conversations during our visit cannot simply be explained,” Cook said. “I am honored to participate in this delegation."

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At a June 22 Pinal Partnership meeting, Cook reaffirmed his support and said America is the reason Ukraine is still fighting.

"The Russians are terrorists," Cook said. "I’m completely on the side of Ukraine, and … they would already be overtaken if it weren’t for this great country and the people who are supporting them."

Liubota said that in the future, he hopes Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs can visit Ukraine to further the connection.

"For Ukraine, relief does not come in one shape and size,” Hobbs said in a written statement. “The country’s needs are unique and span a variety of industries and infrastructures. Arizona is home to many impressive innovations and research centers. I look forward to discussing how Arizona and Ukraine can further partner in efforts to defend and rebuild Ukraine."

In the spirit of John McCain, Smith said that the Arizona coalition is working with both Republicans and Democrats to ensure they follow through on its goals.

"We engage with those that are currently in office (who are) working on the same issues that we're passionate about," Smith said. "We definitely have been able to garner support from both sides of the aisle."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona groups continue John McCain's work in Ukraine