The Somerset County Board of Commissioners proclaimed their solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they endure the invasion by the Russian Federation.
As part of their proclamation dated March 8, the commissioners temporarily renamed the area at Mechanic and Main streets in Somerville after Freedom Square in the Ukrainian capitol of Kyiv.
“The images we are seeing from Ukraine of cities burning, train stations full of refugees, and pregnant women being evacuated from bombed-out hospitals are heartbreaking, but the resolve and fight of the Ukrainian people as they pushed back at the full force of the Russian military is uplifting,” Commissioner Melonie Marano, who proposed the naming of Freedom Square in Somerville, said in a prepared statement. “As a community we fully support the State of New Jersey, the United States, and the international community’s strong response to this horrible aggression from Russia and call for an immediate diplomatic solution.”
On March 10, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to the European Union’s parliament about the conflict, and noted that the Russian military had bombed Kyiv’s Freedom Square despite the fact that it has no military value, according to reports.
Somerset County now also has a Freedom Square, and stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The proclamation is as follows:
Whereas, on Feb. 24, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded the sovereign country of Ukraine without provocation;
Whereas, as of March 5, 2022, more than 1.5 million Ukrainian civilians have fled to neighboring states as refugees, and the United Nations has recorded at least 1,123 non-combatant civilian deaths as a result of Russian military attacks;
Whereas, the international community, including the United States and the New Jersey state legislature, have condemned the Russian incursion and levied unprecedented sanctions against the Russian economy;
Whereas, in response to the bombing of the civilian “Freedom Square” in the Ukrainian capitol of Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that every public square in Ukraine would be known as Freedom Square;
Therefore be it resolved, that this board joins with the Legislature of the State of New Jersey in supporting the people of Ukraine and condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia;
Be it further resolved, the public space at the corner of Main Street and Mechanic Street in the Somerset County seat of Somerville be designated Freedom Square for the duration of the conflict in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
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