INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): Senator Joe Donnelly says a trip to Ukraine left him convinced that the United States must have a strong response to Russian intervention there.

Donnelly visited Ukraine on Sunday after stops in Israel and Afghanistan last week. He says people in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev told him they would “fight for every square inch” of their country. 

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Thursday on approving sanctions against Russia and aid for Ukraine. Donnelly called Russian President Vladimir Putin's government a “thug-ocracy.” Like his Republican counterpart, Dan Coats, he believes U.S. sanctions should be extended to the Russian energy and financial sectors.