“Today, I stand before you as a first-generation Ukrainian American. I wear a Ukrainian embroidered shirt. I am an American who deeply values the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and more that I want my family, friends, and all Ukrainians to freely experience. I also want our credit union colleagues in Ukraine to be safe, stable, and free,” said Anatoli Murha, Senior Vice President of the Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union (UKRFCU).

 

On the morning of March 1, 2022, Murha addressed 4,000 attendees of the Credit Union National Association’s Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington D.C. about Russia’s war on Ukraine. With him were Vitaliy Kutnyy, CEO of Selfreliance Federal Credit Union, and Andre Vygnanski, CEO of Ukrainian Selfreliance Michigan Federal Credit Union. Anatoli shared about Ukraine’s extraordinary will to fight and how the diaspora is mobilizing to provide assistance.

 

Representing the twelve Ukrainian American credit unions, he outlined how 100,000 Americans of Ukrainian descent have responded to the need for help. “On behalf of our members in the Ukrainian American Credit Union Association (UACUA), we have wired more than $700,000 to Ukraine over the past few days to support the many brave people on the front lines,” Murha said.

 

Anatoli also had the honor of formally introducing Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Markarova spoke to those in attendance via Zoom. Her address was filled with gratitude for the outpouring of support the American and global communities are providing to Ukrainians in Ukraine, those fleeing the war, and those that comprise the world-wide Ukrainian Diaspora.

 

She reiterated the desperate need for more governmental and civilian support from all nations in Ukraine’s fight for freedom. The audience, the majority of which consisted of credit union representatives, greeted both speakers with multiple standing ovations. To read more on her address, please click here

 

We thank CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle and World Council of Credit Unions President/CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde for this opportunity. On the 24th of February, Nussle and LaBorde issued a joint statement of support for Ukraine and its credit unions.