In response to the escalating Russia-Ukraine crisis, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Sunday to immediately stop business transactions between New York state and Russia.
To support that decision, the executive order states: “Russia and Putin have engaged in an unjustified and unprovoked attack on the sovereign nation of the Ukraine.”
Hochul also announced that the office of the state comptroller is reviewing current state investments, to see if they are beneficial to Russia.
“These are our fellow brothers and sisters. We worship with them, we go to restaurants with them, we celebrate their cultural festivals. They’re an important part of the fabric of New York State,” Hochul said. “So an attack on their country is truly an attack on all of us.”
That order coincides with economic sanctions from the Biden administration, meant to dissuade Russia from taking further action against Ukraine.
There was also an anti-war demonstration outside of the Capitol Sunday afternoon, with members of the Ukrainian community calling for support from New York, and the country as a whole.
One protester, named Mykhailo, said he supports sanctions against Russia and applauded Hochul’s executive order, but did say that his home country needs more help.
“We like to support everything that we get from here, but we would like a little bit more,” he said. “We want more weapons, probably, for the Ukrainians.”
That comes as reports have surfaced of Ukrainians fighting Russian forces on the ground.
Sunday’s announcement comes less than a week after Gov. Hochul announced the newly-formed Joint Security Operations Center, or JSOC, would be monitoring the possibility of Russian cyber-attacks as the crisis continues.