Ukrainian-born New York City Council member Inna Vernikov recalls standing in long lines for grocery tickets only to find “bare shelves” under the Soviet Union and horrified by the “return” of socialism she discovers in the US.
Vernikov, one of five Republicans on the 51-member city council, Vernikov’s escape from Ukraine under the Soviet Union, and a career as an immigration and divorce lawyer and then council member have drawn the attention of even former President Trump.
The 37-year-old representing South Brooklyn on the New York City council contacted after returning from a trip to Florida to meet with Trump.
“He definitely expressed great concern about New York, the city that he loves and that I love,” Vernikov said of the former president. “We talked about how unsafe it is, we talked about the problem of the homeless, about the fact that the homeless have nowhere to go – they are on trains, the whole city has become very unsafe.”
Elected in 2021, Vernikov has become a passionate voice for Ukrainians and a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin in New York politics.
Faced with a target on their backs due to their Jewish heritage and limited opportunities for a comfortable life, the Vernikova family emigrated from Chernivtsi, Ukraine when she was 12 years old.
Vernikov said of his time in the Soviet Union, “I actually remember quite a lot. There was never anything in the stores. I really remember the empty shelves – coming to the supermarket, I would like a piece of bread, milk, vegetables; there will be a very, very limited choice of what you can buy.”
Vernikov posted a photo of her with President Trump on Sunday.
Vernikov is pictured above as a child in Ukraine under the Soviet Union.
Chernivtsi is only an hour away from the border and has become a hub for refugees hoping to reach Romania.
Vernikova is pictured with her parents, who fled the Soviet Union due to economic opportunities.
The Vernikov family also feared for their safety due to their Jewish heritage.
Vernikov said she often stood in line for a ticket to get a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk with her grandfather, on the left, and went to the well for fresh water with her grandmother, on the right.
“You will have to stand in a long line for food,” she added. “Each family will get a rationed ticket, you will only be allowed to buy a limited amount of food per family.”
Often her family did not have access to running water or hot water. “Sometimes I went to the well with my grandmother.”
“I remember my grandparents using gas to heat water just to take a shower,” she added.
Vernikov said that in Ukraine under the Soviet Union it was “dangerous” to be Jewish or not support the Communist Party.
“If you were a Jew, you could not study at the university, you could not be outwardly Jewish. If your last name was Jewish, you either wanted to change it, or you wanted to move to a city where you would be accepted.”
“And if you weren’t a member of the Communist Party, you could be in big trouble,” she added.
A man talks to border guards on March 9 as Ukrainians try to escape through Chernivtsi, Ukraine.
Ukrainian refugees line up in Chernivtsi March 9 to leave their home due to a Russian attack.
More than three million Ukrainians fled as a result of the attack, according to the UN. Border crossing with Romania near the city of Chernivtsi, Ukraine, March 10.
Anna Zadorozhnyak (right), 10, and Olga Zadorozhnyak, 8, from the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi, pose for a photograph after crossing the Ukrainian-Romanian border in Siret, northern Romania, on March 19.
Although she is a former registered Democrat, Vernikov said her background “absolutely” shaped her views. “I grew up under communism,” she said. “What I started to see all these years ago really worries me, because I started to see a return to socialism here. We left it, we escaped it all, and now we’ve come here to see it.”
Vernikov said most of her family has left Ukraine for either the US or Israel, although she is checking the situation on the ground with her old neighbors, classmates and family friends, many of whom work to care for those trying to escape the violence. . . Located right on the border, Chernivtsi has become a transit point for refugees hoping to get to Romania.
“My parents left everything – they left because of anti-Semitism, they left because there were no economic opportunities, and we came to this country for the opposite of that, and I know that there are people in my community who think we are turning in the same place.” the direction of that. This is scary.’
Vernikova is pictured in her South Brooklyn neighborhood.
Vernikova and her family pictured with New York Mayor Eric Adams.
A woman walks past Ukrainian and Georgian flags in front of a store in Brighton Beach, also known as “Little Odessa” because of its close-knit Russian and Eastern European communities.
Vernikov said she received an email from Trump’s office last Thursday asking her to come to Florida to meet him and she “had no idea” what it would be about. Flying to Florida a day later, the former president “made inquiries about my family and friends there and was very concerned about the senseless deprivation of innocent lives.” He expressed his solidarity with the Ukrainian people and sent prayers and love to my Ukrainian voters.”
“Grateful to meet with President Trump. He praised me for changing my seat from Democrat to Republican, and we discussed the need to reclaim our beloved New York. He expressed his solidarity with the people of Ukraine and sent prayers and love to my voters from Ukraine,” Vernikov wrote on Sunday, along with a photo.
“I thanked him for everything he did for our country and for the peace he brought to the Middle East with the Abraham Accords and the exit from the disastrous deal with Iran. I look forward to continuing my relationship with the unrivaled 45th President of the United States.”
Ukrainian-born New York City Council member Inna Vernikov recalls standing in long lines for grocery tickets only to find “bare shelves” under the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, she criticized the Biden administration for failing to impose sanctions earlier. “This could have been prevented and avoided from the start. If we had imposed sanctions on Russia earlier, if we had had a tougher foreign policy, in my opinion, Putin would not have felt so courageous to act,” she told .
“Putin saw a loophole watching our ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan and our leader who can barely tie up a sentence. The continuation of the soft diplomacy of the Obama era is dangerous not only for America, but for the whole world.”
The meeting shows Trump flexing his political muscles in the Big Apple, the hometown he distanced himself from after he changed his permanent residence to Palm Beach, Florida.
At the Republican Party convention in New York earlier this month, Vernikov called Putin a “crazy terrorist.”
Residents of Russia and Ukraine, as well as representatives of other Slavic nationalities, gathered together to protest Russia’s war against Ukraine at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.
Hundreds of people gathered on the Brighton Beach boardwalk earlier this month to show support for Ukraine and call on President Biden to ban Russian oil.
New York City has the largest Ukrainian, Russian, and Slavic populations in the same area as the United States, and many of them live in the Vernikova area of South Brooklyn.
“What a dark, dark moment in our history. People in Ukraine are suffering at the hands of a terrorist. And I, who grew up in this region, know that President Putin has always been a tyrant, but now he has officially lost his mind,” Vernikov said emotionally on March 1 in Garden City on Long Island.
“I think it’s all about more power. I think he wants to destroy democracy. And I think he wants the Soviet Union back.”
Vernikov was elected to represent South Brooklyn’s 48th borough of Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach, Midwood, West Brighton Beach, and Sheepshead Bay. She is a divorce and immigration lawyer by practice.
The area is home to both Russian Americans and Orthodox Jews, both populations that have largely supported Trump. With close ties to the region, Vernikov’s voters organized rallies and fundraisers to help the Ukrainian people.
Vernikov said that, until recently, she was registered as a Democrat to be eligible to vote in the primaries, but did not identify with the party “for at least 10 years.”
During her campaign, she received support from both Donald Trump Jr. and former 48th District councilor Democrat Chaim Deutsch, and became the first Republican to represent the Brooklyn region on the New York City Council in two decades.
Vernikova speaking at a rally for Ukrainians in her area
Red and blue T-shirts in the colors of the Ukrainian flag are sold in a store in Brighton Beach.
Mannequins in a shop window are dressed in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag in Brighton Beach.
Volunteer packing donations to be sent to Ukraine at Brighton Beach