When Eugene and his family moved to Dale City, one of his neighbors encouraged him to check out Post 1503. He first visited during Halloween in 2017 with his family, checking out the elaborate animatronics and live "ghosts” around each corner in the infamously frightening haunted house. Although he and his kids enjoyed the experience, his position at the White House and overseas temporary duty travel meant that Eugene was away for long periods of time.   After his retirement in 2022, Eugene joined Post 1503 as a Life Member. Despite his current run for Congress keeping him quite busy, he still pops into the canteen from time to time to relax and chat with fellow members. Eugene loves the immediate kinship and trust that exist between veterans, knowing that they share an understanding of what it means to serve with the values of the United States Armed Forces.

Eugene and his identical twin brother were born in 1975 in Kyiv in the Ukrainian SSR (the Ukraine today). He and Alexander both idolized their older brother, Leonid, in a loving household with his parents. His father was a civil engineer and worked hard to support the household.

However, the family started the process of moving to the United States when the twins were three. Eugene’s mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and the family suffered anti-Semitic discrimination as a Jewish family under the corrupt Communist dictatorship in the Soviet Union during that time. Despite the family’s best efforts to find better medical care in the United States for her cancer, the disease had progressed too far and she passed away before being able to travel. Eugene’s father brought the three children to New York. He remarried several years later, and Eugene’s stepmother and stepbrother completed their family.

The boys attended public schools in New York. Although Eugene notes that he was "not the best student,” he was placed in gifted and specialty programs, even skipping 8th grade. His favorite subject was history, and he deeply enjoyed reading historical novels as a child. He was also interested in biology.

After graduating from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn, he and his twin brother decided to stay in New York for college. They attended the State University of New York at Binghamton where Eugene majored in history. The brothers also joined an ROTC program in college, and Eugene found that he enjoyed the program. He also felt called to a position of leadership, developing a strong interest in becoming an infantry officer to lead troops.

As graduation approached, Eugene made the decision to be commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the Army. Eugene was able to get his first choice of a duty station: Fort Bragg (now known as Fort Liberty) in North Carolina. He headed to Fort Benning (now known as Fort Moore) in Georgia to complete the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) and Airborne School. Although Eugene would return to Fort Bragg several times throughout his military career, this first assignment brought him fantastic platoons of top-notch infantry and anti-armor soldiers.

Eugene transferred to the Reserves for a time and completed a master’s degree from Central Michigan University. After September 11, 2001, Eugene returned to active duty and headed back to Fort Bragg. His next duty station was at Fort McPherson as a Battle Captain, later becoming the aide to the Deputy Commanding General. In 2006, Eugene enrolled at the University of Georgia School of Law, earning a Juris Doctor (JD) degree in 2009. He also completed training at the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville.

In January of 2011, Eugene was deployed to Iraq at Victory Base for six months, serving in Operation New Dawn as an operational law attorney. Upon his return, he was assigned to a duty station in Germany. Among some of his many other military transitions, Eugene was also stationed at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), the Aberdeen Proving Ground, and the Pentagon and White House.

Eugene settled with his family in Prince William County in 2016. After so many years of the Army telling them where they would live, he loved the great community he found here and decided this was where they would stay. It was close to Washington DC and a great place to put down roots.

Although Eugene and Alex Vindman had been separated for much of their military careers since their commissions, they both accepted positions as part of the National Security Council in 2018 during the Trump administration. Eugene was a deputy legal advisor and was promoted to a senior ethics official. In 2019, Alex Vindman heard a phone call between Trump and Zelensky that he felt put our national security at risk. He shared his concerns with Eugene, who immediately recognized the legal issues in President Trump’s statements during that conversation. The two reported the call to John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Council. The conversation made national news and eventually led to the impeachment inquiry against Trump. The brothers testified before Congressional investigators. Both were eventually fired fired from the White House, leading to a later investigation which concluded that their removal was likely retaliation for their role in reporting Trump’s statements.

Although Eugene was promoted to Colonel in 2021, he followed his brother in announcing that he would be concluding his time in the Army. Eugene retired in 2022 with 25 years of service.

Shortly after his retirement, Eugene immediately took a position with the State Department as the Director of Military Analysis and Prosecution Support for the Atrocity Crimes Advisory (ACA) organization. He traveled to Ukraine 14 times to investigate war crimes committed by individuals during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Although Eugene didn’t initially see himself going into politics after his retirement, he realized he wanted to uphold his Army values by running for Congress to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Eugene sees that there are many threats to our American democracy and national values. As an action-orientated individual, he felt he could not simply sit on the sidelines during this time, as he knows his experience and knowledge will provide value for our country. No matter the outcome, he is passionate about ensuring safety in our communities, supporting our schools and teachers, addressing affordable housing needs, and finding solutions for rising inflation.

• Growing up, Eugene and Alex idolized their older brother. Although Eugene’s father didn’t read around the boys due to his busy job as a civil engineer, his older brother loved to read. Eugene suspects that he picked up his enjoyment for novels and historical texts by admiringly copying his brother. Eugene’s decision to join an ROTC program in college was also inspired by his brother’s previous training and service in the Reserves.
• Having a twin is "pretty awesome” according to Eugene. The brothers joke that they are 48 years old but have known each other for 49 years. As children, the boys sometimes got into trouble for their sibling antics, leading to separate classroom placements beginning in 2nd grade. Eugene recalls an innocent childhood crush who he spent time talking to. One day, he and Alex decided they would switch places to see if she noticed. The two of them kept this up several weeks. However, if their classmate noticed her conversation partner changing, she never let them know! Eugene and his brother are still very close, and they make sure to speak with each other every day.
• Shortly after arriving at college, one of the first people Eugene met in his co-ed dorm was Cindy, a "bubbly and beautiful” student. Although he was "awkward and frightened,” the two of them decided to skip orientation and talk over a case of beer from her cool uncle. Although it took them a few years to start dating, their romance eventually blossomed and they married. Not only was Cindy a military spouse during Eugene’s career, but she also serves as an Army Captain with the military operating specialty of a 71A: a microbiologist. Eugene and Cindy have two children, a son in college and a daughter in middle school.

• During his legal career, Eugene has encountered many individuals who must be prosecuted for their crimes. He recalls the time he was sent to grill a convicted murderer who had been sentenced to 60 years in a Texas state prison. He was in the middle of the heavy questioning when he noticed the other lawyers at the table slowly moving back from the table, afraid that the man would lunge at them. Instead of following suit, Eugene leaned in a little bit to show he wasn’t afraid of getting the information he wanted from this witness. The soldier at the heart of the legal trouble eventually ended up pleading guilty after seeing the prison first-hand during the interview.
• Eugene describes his time in the military as "pure awesomeness.” During his 25 years of service, Eugene recalls that he worked with "fantastic people” in many types of jobs. He was able to gain valuable skills in technical programs, law, and leadership while contributing to the world in a meaningful way.