Ukraine's First Lady Declines US Invite

President Biden gives his State of the Union address on Thursday night, and there have been a few newsworthy developments in regard to the guest list:

• Declining: Ukraine first lady Olena Zelenska declined a White House invitation, citing a schedule conflict, reports Politico. The plan was for her to sit with Jill Biden and Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Alexei Navalny, reports the Washington Post. However, the Post adds that the real reason Zelenska declined was because Navalnaya's potential proximity "caused discomfort" in Kyiv. It seems that, years ago, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Navalny supported the move. His views had changed since then, but the animosity apparently lingers.

• Declining, II: As it turns out, Zelenska needn't have worried. Navalnaya separately declined, citing fatigue. Still, the invitations caused some controversy in Ukraine. "The world stubbornly wants to put Ukrainians and Russians side by side, implying, they say, that both are suffering from Putin's authoritarianism," wrote Ukrainian lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko on social media, per Politico. But the "tragedy of the Navalny family is not equal to the genocide of the Ukrainian people."
• Accepting: Two people who will be in attendance are the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for nearly a year. Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich will be the guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson, per the Journal.

(More State of the Union address stories.)