Ukraine’s struggle is not a distant conflict relegated to news headlines; it’s a daily battle for survival, fought on the frontlines and etched into the fabric of Ukrainian society.
There is no luxury of ‘war fatigue’ when every passing day extracts a toll measured in lives lost and infrastructure razed.
The resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of adversity is nothing short of extraordinary.
However, resilience alone cannot staunch the wounds inflicted by war, nor can it rebuild shattered communities or heal grieving families.
Former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko has urged Western allies to make political decisions faster to aid Ukraine in a fight that soldiers are waging every day around the clock.
“The front line is working 24 hours, it doesn’t take vacation,” he said.
Yushchenko acknowledged the huge losses that Ukraine has suffered in over two years of war, costing lives every day and forcing regular Ukrainians to join the fight.
He said that he was ashamed to hear arguments about “war fatigue” and that it shouldn’t be an excuse to stop fighting.
“Every day we pay with our lives. The lives of children and women, the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Our infrastructure is being destroyed every day.”
Viktor Yushchenko
The argument of ‘war fatigue’ must not serve as a convenient excuse to disengage or turn a blind eye to Ukraine’s plight. To yield to fatigue is to betray the sacrifices of those who have laid down their lives in defense of freedom and sovereignty.
Everyday, Ukraine pays the ultimate price; a price measured not just in lives lost, but in the erosion of fundamental values and the destabilization of an entire region.
Yushchenko stated that the long delay by the U.S. Congress in approving military aid for his country was “a colossal waste of time,” allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to inflict more suffering in the 2-year-old invasion and prolonging the war.
He noted that the severe lack of ammunition also sowed concern among Ukraine’s other Western allies about Kyiv’s prospects in repelling the Russian invasion, sending a signal to Putin to “attack, ruin infrastructure, rampage all over Ukraine.”
“And, of course, this undermines the morale of those in the world who stand with and support Ukraine,” Yushchenko stated.
He said that the delay “is not fatal” to Ukraine, but it forced Ukraine’s war planners to revise the current year’s campaign.
After the U.S. aid was approved last month, President Joe Biden said he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $61 billion war aid measure for Ukraine.
CIA Director Bill Burns has said that without it, Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year.
Still, only small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the Biden administration was “trying to really accelerate the tempo” of U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine following the monthslong delay by Congress. “The level of intensity being exhibited right now in terms of moving stuff is at a 10 out of 10,” he said.
What Ukraine needs now is not just words of solidarity, but concrete action backed by unwavering resolve.
Yushchenko also backed the handling of the war by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
He asserted that no Ukrainian politician would give up territory in order to end the war.
Yushchenko said it would be a “big mistake” for the U.S. and Europe to expect such a deal for peace, and would only embolden Putin to attack again.
It would, he said, “give Putin five or seven years to get stronger and then start this misery again.”
Yushchenko Acknowledges Western Support
Despite his harsh criticism of the U.S. delay in approving the latest military aid, Yushchenko acknowledged that Ukraine has been able to recapture a significant part of the occupied territory thanks to Western support.
More gains can be achieved if the allies are united, Yushchenko said.
“For Putin, the main geopolitical challenge is freedom and democracy. And today he is using all available resources to show that the Western world is weak and unable to coalesce.”
Viktor Yushchenko
He said that he believes victory for Ukraine is inevitable, given the sacrifice of the country’s citizens to fight, and sees the war as a larger, defining battle to defend democracy from tyranny and imperialism.
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