February 24, 2023: Thousands of Russian soldiers parade in Maidan Square, in the wake of tanks marked with a Z, where, nine years earlier, so many Ukrainians had given their lives for freedom. The Russian flag has been hoisted over the Parliament and the Maryinsky Palace, where the Russian President has installed Dmitry Medvedev, while Volodymyr Zelensky languishes in exile.
Putin has achieved his goals: after a major offensive launched from Kharkiv and Belarus, and preceded by a swarm of missiles, Kiev, alone against the Russian ogre, had to capitulate, exhausted. The winner prepares the next stage, the invasion of Moldavia.
If Volodymyr Zelensky had fled at the beginning of the war, as the Americans advised him to do, if his generals had flinched before “the second army in the world”, and if the United States had been indifferent to the fate of the Ukrainians, we would be -be there.
Ukraine plays a role of bulwark
“Zelensky takes us to the precipice by always asking for more weapons…”, we hear on the left and on the right. The urgency would be to negotiate to avoid a deadly escalation. But how to argue with an enemy who only respects force and has no word? Ukraine has no choice but to inflict defeat on Russia, pushing it out of its territory.
To reproach Zelensky for doing too much is to forget that Ukraine plays a role of bulwark. May it protect us physically, and defend the values of Europe against the dark autocratic world of Putin. It must be helped to regain its sovereignty, as the Allies helped us to drive out the Nazi occupier. Only then will Europe be at peace. “After the victory, we can become real human beings again and I hope that the hatred will evaporate”, slips Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, the most popular singer of Ukraine.
Let’s stop considering it as a country that owes us everything. If courageous, Ukraine will have its full place in tomorrow’s Europe, and no doubt a lot to teach us. Until then, let’s supply her with the weapons she needs, without fear of upsetting a tyrant who, whatever people say, has already declared war on the West.