First lady Jill Biden includes Ukraine ambassador on her list of State of the Union guests

By Kate Bennett, CNN

First lady Jill Biden will host Ukraine Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova in her box at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, among a number of other guests.

The Office of the First Lady announced Markarova’s invitation along with several others just hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union. The full list includes educators, a union representative, members of the tech community, an organizer of Native American causes, a health care worker and a military spouse.

The other guests all represent policies and themes that Biden will talk about during the speech, Jill Biden’s office said.

The full list of other guests:

• Joseph “JoJo” Burgess, of Washington, Pennsylvania. Burgess is a member of United Steelworkers Local 1557, who introduced the President at a recent speech in Pittsburgh where Biden spoke about investing in infrastructure and manufacturing goods in America.
• Joshua Davis, a seventh-grader from Midlothian, Virginia, who is also a diabetes advocate. Davis also introduced Biden at a recent speech in Culpeper, Virginia.
• Refynd Duro, a progressive care unit nurse who is from Galloway Ohio. Duro has been treating patients diagnosed with Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
• Patrick “Pat” Gelsinger, the chief executive officer of Intel, which announced construction of a $20 billion facility near Columbus, Ohio, that will manufacture semi-conductors.
• Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee turned whistleblower who has argued for the company to be more transparent about how it operates.
• Melissa Isaac, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, who works at the Michigan Department of Education’s Indigenous Education Initiative. The first lady met with Isaac during a trip to Michigan in October.
• Danielle Robinson, of Columbus, the widow of Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson, who died in May 2020 after being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and a rare autoimmune disorder. Danielle Robinson now works as an advocate for veterans who have been exposed to burn pits and other environmental hazards.
• Kezia Rodriguez, of North Bergen, New Jersey. Rodriguez is a community college student and the mother of twin daughters who introduced Jill Biden at an event at Bergen Community College in January.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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