Ukrainians feel that the West cannot make quick, big decisions until the sky has fallen on their necks. This is what Maxim Fedorov, ‘s Ukrainan reporter, writes.
When I came to Kyiv in May 2022, three months of full-scale war had passed. Based on that, I have been asked if there is war fatigue in Ukrainians.
Of course, Ukrainians are tired of war. One day of war is too much, and now war is calculated in years and not days. And there is no end in sight. But fatigue is not the same as readiness to give up.
Instead, Ukrainians are tired of proving and convincing that they have the right to exist. That’s basically what this war is about.
In the beginning, the Ukrainians tried to appeal to the Russians to stop the attack. It soon became clear that these cries for help did not bring results, and they were abandoned.
The appeals addressed to Western countries did produce results, but unfortunately slowly. It frustrates Ukrainians that even after two years they have to repeat the same arguments about the threat of Russia, the importance of military aid and that concessions would only mean postponing hostilities to the future.
American historian Timothy Snyder summed up the feelings of the Ukrainians well a week ago at the Munich Security Conference.
– This is a very strange war, in which the people of only one country are fighting. It is a war that has international effects, not only in Europe and North America, but also in Asia. It is in many respects a world war in which only one nation resists. And because the Ukrainians have resisted so well, no one else had to go to war. Still.
Snyder has supported Ukraine since the beginning, and still does.. It’s different for many other Westerners.
A recent study reveals that only one in ten Europeans on average believes in Ukraine’s victory. It is a sign of the atmosphere that I was able to witness at the turn of January and February when I visited Central Europe.
The war in Ukraine can no longer interest Europeans. War is not accepted, but it is only a distant background factor. In Finland and other countries neighboring Russia, the situation is different.
In September of last year, I ran into a “peace march†in Leipzig, Germany, with the slogan: Today they want tanks, tomorrow fighter jets and the day after tomorrow our sons.
When I returned to Kyiv, I asked the press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister for a comment. From Oleh Nikolenko. He said the slogan is a typical example of how Russian propaganda bites Europeans.
– Giving weapons to Ukraine guarantees that German boys will not have to fight off Russian aggression. Because until now only Ukrainian boys have resisted it, Nikolenko said.
Hesitation in helping Ukraine is justified no matter what. Western countries often refer to the rampant corruption in Ukraine, as if the level of corruption automatically deprived the people of their right to survival.
This week Ukraine celebrates the tenth anniversary of the war and the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. At the same time, there has been opposition in Poland to the Ukrainians’ trade facilitation with the EU.
Polish farmers stopped grain shipments and dumped wheat and corn on the ground. A banner was attached to one of the tractors that read, “Putin, put things in order in Ukraine, Brussels and our government.”
After such incidents, Ukrainians run out of words. That’s why a drawing by a Latvian cartoonist went viral on Ukrainian social media this week. There are only two boxes of weapons in that western arms aid shipment and the others are just blabla.
Ukrainians are completely tired of convincing that weapons should be in all boxes.