The key to victory lies in the Pechersk Hills: what Ukraine must do independently without waiting for allies' assistance.
QUESTION AT HAND
The strategic divide for everyone who truly wishes well for Ukraine has become the question of what Ukraine needs right now: a pause in the war (even if under unjust conditions) or the continuation of the war at any cost.
Recently, a number of prominent public activists and intellectuals (including individuals I deeply respect: Yaroslav Hrytsak, Anna Hopko, Valeriy Pekar, and others) published an open appeal titled "Do Not Appease Evil," urging "our partners to seek a path not to appease the aggressor but to achieve a common victory."
I am convinced that this is a misguided strategy that is leading Ukraine towards catastrophe. Because Russia's strength lies primarily in the weakness and ineffectiveness of the Ukrainian state. The situation with the 155th brigade, which Yuriy Butusov recently described, indicates that what Ukrainians lack is not Western weapons, financial aid, or other support — we are losing the motivation to kill and die for such a Ukraine. This is due to its ineffective, corrupt, and unprofessional government, which refuses to confront reality, driving Ukraine towards disaster.
In the story of the 155th brigade, which the French armed with the latest models of weaponry but from which 1,700 servicemen deserted before the first battle, we see a reflection of the tectonic changes that have occurred in Ukraine over nearly three years of major war. No one is storming military recruitment offices anymore. The conscription process increasingly resembles a lottery reminiscent of the terrible times of Stalin's terror (my great-grandfather was arrested and shot to fulfill a plan when the neighbor they were after was not home). Military command has nearly completed the transformation of the glorious Ukrainian army, which conscious citizens voluntarily joined to defend their land — into a small "Soviet army," where primarily serfs serve, and one can only escape from it to the sky, to a hospital, or to prison...
Did Putin really send more than 100,000 Ukrainian servicemen to Sochi? Or are our Western partners supplying (and according to some reports, still supplying) hundreds of thousands of defective mines to the front? Or are the Russians providing our defenders with wrecked "korsh" instead of specialized medical evacuation vehicles and shoddy Chinese tourniquets instead of CATs, SOFTs, or SICH? Perhaps Russian agents are taking bribes for fake disabilities, illegal border crossings, or fictitious exemptions from mobilization? Or are our partners bringing a record number of luxury cars into a bleeding Ukraine?
And if we, Ukrainians, are doing all this, how can we win the war if we are becoming increasingly like our enemies, and in some respects, have even surpassed Putin's Russia? And how can our allies help us — by not stealing, not making tragic mistakes, protecting our soldiers, and not treating our own citizens as "mobilization resources"? Because if the only difference between us and Russia is that they are the aggressor and we are the victim, then we are doomed to defeat. Since none of our partners will risk unleashing a nuclear war to save Ukraine. Unfortunately...
Therefore, the salvation of Ukraine and the survival of Ukrainians as a political nation is primarily our responsibility. All attempts to shift this burden onto the shoulders of our allies and partners are counterproductive.
To survive, we must change. And first and foremost, we need to change the government, which is confidently leading Ukraine towards catastrophe and defeat in this war. For this, we need a pause in active hostilities. So that elections during wartime do not tear apart and bury Ukraine.
The main problem now is not with our allies or even Russia; the main problem is within us. Because in less than three years of war, in place of the free and proud Ukraine, whose flags bore the inscription "Freedom or Death" and which was capable of astonishing the whole world, has emerged a desperate, corrupt, and demotivated Little Russia. And this is undoubtedly the main "achievement" of the current government.
Over 10+ years of intertwining my fate with frontline medicine, I have learned one simple truth: you cannot heal a patient who does not want to be treated. If Ukraine does not want to radically change (and this requires not just a change of power but a radical transformation of the constitutional architecture and the very matrix of Ukrainian society), it is doomed. And no partners or allies will be able to save it.
Therefore, I firmly believe that the key to Ukraine's survival now lies in Kyiv on the Pechersk Hills, not at the front, in Washington, or in Brussels. If we find the courage and wisdom to face the truth and start to change (beginning with a change of power) — we will survive and win. If not — then Putin is right, and Ukraine does not deserve its own statehood...
The author expresses a personal opinion that may not coincide with the position of the editorial office. The responsibility for the published data in the "Opinions" section lies with the author.