District Attorney picked as guest at State of the Union address

A top Ventura County law enforcement official with family ties to Ukraine was selected as Rep. Julia Brownley's guest at Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

District Attorney Erik Nasarenko, the son of Ukrainian immigrants who fled the country when it was under Soviet rule during World War II, said the crisis in Ukraine is deeply personal.

"To see what is happening to my parents' country and the people of Ukraine is sickening," he said shortly before viewing President Joe Biden's speech before Congress. "To see the world, the United States united against this criminal undertaking is very important to me."

Although guests of members of Congress generally appear in person at the State of the Union speech, they attended Tuesday's address virtually because of the pandemic.

After watching the event on television at his office, Nasarenko said he was pleased by the support for the embattled country.

"When it came to Ukraine, there was no red or blue America tonight," he said. "Instead, we saw bipartisan solidarity for the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian people."

In his address, Biden pledged $1 billion in direct assistance to Ukraine, announced the U.S. will close American airspace to Russian planes and said the Justice Department will work will European allies to find and seize yachts, jets and other "ill-begotten gains" of Russian oligarchs.

Nasarenko said these actions are meaningful to him and other Ukrainian-Americans.

Brownley, D-Westlake Village, said Biden had reaffirmed his support for the people of Ukraine who were fighting every day against "an aggressive and premeditated attack" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"President Biden continues to work to use diplomatic and economic tools available to end Putin’s attack on Ukraine," she said in a statement Tuesday night.

Kathleen Wilson covers the Ventura County government, including the county health system, politics and social services. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Crisis in Ukraine has special meaning for county's top prosecutor