Many Long Island officials and political candidates pledged support for Ukraine after it was invaded by Russian military forces, while some urged President Joe Biden to close the Killenworth estate, a compound in Glen Cove used by Russian diplomats to the United Nations. 

The Russians, who launched a full-scale invasion last Thursday at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, have carried out missile and artillery attacks on major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev. On Tuesday, multiple reports said a 40-mile-long Russian military convoy was approaching the capital. 

Local officials, including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck joined Ukrainian Americans of Long Island over the weekend at separate rallies to show support for Ukraine.

In a statement Saturday, Blakeman called on Biden to close the estate and expel Russian diplomats. In 2016, President Barack Obama’s administration ordered a Russian-owned mansion in Brookville, which was described by the U.S. government as a “recreational compound,” to be closed in late December due to Russia’s interference in the presidential election. Since then, 35 diplomats were expelled while the Killenworth estate itself was unaffected. It remains a Russian property that does not pay property taxes. 

“President Biden, expel these Russians from Nassau County,” Blakeman said. “We don’t need them here and let’s get this property back on the tax rolls so the people of Nassau County and Glen Cove don’t have to finance thugs and dictators and people who invade innocent countries.”

It is unclear if the U.S. government has legal grounds to act on Blakeman’s wishes.

Zeldin, who is running for governor and has been endorsed by the Nassau County Republican Committee, expressed similar sentiments.

“The United States cannot let Putin’s people doing his bidding to live in tax-free compounds on Long Island,” he said. “President Biden must immediately close Russia’s Killenworth estate and send their diplomats packing today!”

Lavine said that Americans cannot have tolerance for anyone that considers Putin a man of character at a rally on Sunday.

“We as Americans must have no tolerance whatsoever for voices here in the United States or overseas who praise Putin for being a man of strength and character,” Lavine said in a statement. “We live in a democracy.  Democracies were expressly designed not to have strongmen as leaders or as presidents.  We believe in freedom of speech, we believe in debate, we believe in coming to a consensus.  That’s part of the American idea.  Part of the American ideal.  That is also part of the Ukrainian ideal.  The Ukrainian idea.” 

Other officials joined in expressing their concerns over the ongoing conflict and support for the Ukrainian community. 

Suozzi, who represents the 3rd Congressional District and is seeking his party’s nomination for governor, called for an embargo on all Russian products, among other things. 

“Putin is a liar, manipulator, and murderer,” Suozzi said in a statement. “We must use every tool in our arsenal from sanctions, to military and humanitarian aid, to cutting off access to banks and our financial system, to embargoes of Russian products, to seizure of oligarchs properties, to expulsion of Russian spies. Our allies and friends of democracy and freedom are united – we must remain united in America to ensure that partisanship stops at the water’s edge.”

Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (D-Woodbury), who is running for Suozzi’s seat, is holding a supply drive for Ukrainian refugees on Thursday. 

“The unprovoked and unprecedented attacks on the sovereign state of Ukraine have already begun to cause needless suffering,” Lafazan said in a statement. “The recent events have created a need for emergency assistance to surrounding areas accepting refugees. It is critical that members of the Long Island community do our part in donating what we can to aid vulnerable people in this pivotal point in history.”

Former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, who is also running for the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District, said in a tweet Ukraine is showing the world what heroism looks like.

“The Ukrainian people have shown immense strength during the last several days,” he said. “Their heroism is an example the entire world should follow. I stand with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

Longtime Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman, another candidate in the 3rd Congressional District, tweeted last week: “As we watch the tragedy and horror of war begin, the world will hold Russia accountable. Let us pray for the courageous people of Ukraine and the future of their democracy.”

A Republican candidate in the 3rd Congressional District, George Santos, whose grandfather is Ukrainian, told Fox News Digital from the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, that strict punishment needs to be put in place against Russia for its actions. 

“They need to remove them from the international banking community altogether,” Santos said, according to Fox News. “Cut them at the knees, cut their supply to oil, cut the pipeline. Sanction the pipeline, stop it. Don’t make it operational. It’s not operational yet. Sit down with Germany and say, ‘We need to make them understand that they are going to have severe consequences for their actions,’ but instead we’re giving them a pat on the shoulder.” 

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is running for election as governor, signed an executive order directing the state, which is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the country, to divest public funds from Russia.

“Russia has chosen to attack democracy and we will stand with Ukraine as we condemn these atrocities,” Hochul said in a statement. “Our state will not permit its own investment activity, whether directly or indirectly, to aid Russia as it commits these human rights violations.”

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.