My aides were surprised by this unexpected question by my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Sophia, who was at my side during a parliamentary committee on foreign affairs meeting on the removal of sanctions against Iran.
We were examining how this would be another blow for Russia, what with a potential drop in oil prices. For the Russian economy, such a repercussion combined with stronger sanctions for the Kremlin’s failure to comply with the Minsk accords, will soon become a nightmare for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will regret that he decided to annex Ukraine’s Crimea.
Putin’s oligarchs are quickly coming to see that that global isolation will doom their own businesses as well as Russia as a whole. It is a shame for the Russian people.
The children of Ukraine know a lot about the war in eastern Ukraine, and understand what their parents are fighting for. The “peaceful” resolution of the situation in the east has cost Ukraine more than 7,000 lives. Among those, more than 70 children. Over 22,000 wounded. Over 1.4 million displaced persons, who are now adding their own efforts to nation-building.
How many children have been orphanraine is paying dearly for its choice to be independent of Russia’s economy, energy and media, its choice to be strong and democratic.
Russia has sought to realize its geopolitical revenge countless times, pulling Ukraine into its projects – from the “Russian Mir” (the Russian concept)” to the Eurasian or Customs Union. And then Russia commenced the criminal annexation of Crimea and occupation of the east in response to the civilizational and existential choice of the Ukrainian people to be a part of Europe after former President Victor Yanukovych reneged on his commitment to them, and refused to ratify the association agreement with the European Union.
More than 1,000 years ago on the banks of the Dnipro River, Knyaz Volodymyr the Great chose to baptize Kyivan Rus…This was a civilizational-political choice of a wise head of state.
Recently an American delegation led by U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi visited the grand shrine of Saint Sofia, built in Kyiv at the beginning of the 11th century, a time before Moscow appeared on any map.
Pelosi was enthralled by the shrine (the Cathedral)! She was struck 1,000-years history of Ukraine. With American support, the grand mosaic of St. Sophia was restored. Such temples are historic proof flying in the face of Putin and his propagandists, who assert that Ukraine is but an artificial state.
Russia’s war against Ukraine is a war for identity.
Despite numerous attempts to disassemble Ukraine and make us a part of Russia’s empire, Ukraine has survived and Ukrainians have kept their identity.
Neither Catherine the Second, who destroyed the Cossacks, nor Joseph Stalin, who organized the famine – Holodomor – taking the lives of over 7 million people in the 1930s, could extinguish the flame of Ukrainian culture and identity.
And Russia will not extinguish the flame now!
Would Russia dare a full-scale invasion?
Unfortunately, the question is not yet rhetorical. With the help of increased economic pressure, modern weapons for the armed forces of Ukraine from our Western partners, the Ukrainians’ patriotic fervor, and our military’s resolve, we will make such an incursion too dangerous for Russia.
Ukraine cannot survive on its own.
Ukraine does not have nuclear weapons, which we were forced to surrender in exchange for our independence, but our soldiers still urgently require defense munitions, which remain hard to procure despite all diplomatic efforts.
Ukraine is fighting on the war front while simultaneously working to implement systemic change through governmental reforms.
Since independence over the last 24 years, a new generation of change-makers and nation builders has appeared – a generation gaining experience building a new Ukraine while fighting the corruption schemes of the old one.
This remains a dangerous task.
How much is at stake in reforming the energy sector and operating independently of Russia?
Oil, gas – the conflict involves hundreds of millions of dollars. A criminal network of politicians, oligarchs and thieves pose a serious threat to those who seek change. The political support of our Western strategic partners is essential for progress.
Similar difficulties arise in trying to cleanse defense and law enforcement agencies of corruption.
The Minsk agreements allows us to win time to conduct reform of security and military sectors, yet the reforms are not visible to the people because the army is reforming at a small speed and with many obstacles.
During this so-called ceasefire, which is a fiction, people are continually killed and wounded. We need genuine military reforms, to channel our resources into a real professional army, not an arithmetically inflated one; to restore order in military’s supply chain; and to eliminate corruption in the defense industry and the contriving of lucrative deals, and the like.
Therefore the world must send the political leaders of Ukraine a clear signal: build a new Ukraine, for Russia will be the only shelter for those who still steal, especially in times of war; your family members will not be able to simply escape abroad for protection, because there, isolation, just as in Putin’s Russia, awaits them.
When I look at the Shrine of St. Sophia and at my daughter, I believe and know that Ukraine will overcome! I believe in this, and every day with my colleagues put in the effort to make changes – we do not just watch from the sidelines, as did politicians in the wake of the the Orange Revolution of 2004. Every day we fight for a strong future for Ukraine.
Ukraine has much to offer the world: there is tremendous potential in modernizing the agricultural sector, as well as a hard-working, highly literate and educated people, and great potential in the weapons and space industries.
The fate of the world in the 21st century will not be decided by oil. For this reason, the United States, a key strategic partner, especially given its commitments in the Budapest Memorandum, has to understand the importance and high priority of countering Russian aggression to secure democracy in the post-Soviet region.
Ukraine has to become a successful model of victory for democratic values.
Ukrainians of the 21st century sacrificed their lives for dignity, for freedom!
The Ukrainian people are celebrating their Independence Day with faith in a peaceful future!
Thank you for your support – we look forward to your determined actions!
Hanna Hopko is a member of parliament who chairs the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. She participated in the EuroMaidan Revolution and is co-founder of the Reanimation Package of Reforms.
