by Yurii Kondratyk, University of Tartu
The full-scale phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, as a continuation of the first Russian invasion in 2014, is not just a war in its traditional sense – for territory or resources. Rather, it is the existential war of ideologies – good against evil, freedom against slavery, life against death. There is much more behind this war than the control of some land. It is about the right to be Ukrainian, to be a sovereign nation with its own language and the country. The outcome of this war is important not just for Ukrainians, but for the rest of the world. The brave fight against Russia, which is 28th times bigger, is truly inspiring and symbolizes the whole idea of democracy, which opposes the brutality of an autocratic regime and shows us that the freedom and human dignity are worth dying for.
The outcome of this war is important not just for Ukrainians, but for the rest of the world.
Does human nature seek stability and peace or, on the contrary, self-destruction? I don’t have the answer to that, but I tend to assume that stability would be preferred, which is normal, and that was probably why the claims that Nord Stream 2 was a weapon were ignored. That was perhaps why Ukraine was strongly recommended to stop resisting so everything could return to normal, to business as usual. That is human nature – to try to deny everything that can interfere with our unbothered existence.
Let’s be honest, how many people believed that Ukraine could manage to hold and successfully recapture occupied territories? Stop here for a minute. How fantastic is it that, against all odds, Ukraine has persevered? Look at the progress that has been made today, at how united Europe is today, and how far the discourse has shifted from “we need to negotiate with Putin” to the Hague warrant for his arrest. The result of consciousness, the price of which was very high, was paid by thousands of lives “na nuli” – the Ukrainian military term which means the direct confrontation with an enemy. “Na nuli,” in those cold trenches in the ground, is exactly the place where the future is defined.
Russian imperialist appetites go far beyond Ukraine and expand to the former Soviet republics. The article praising Russia’s success, which was published and then deleted on the state-owned news agency RIA.Novosti on 26th February 2022, just two days after the invasion, revealed the true Russian intentions of bringing back the Soviet Union, the fall of which was considered a “terrible catastrophe” and a trauma for Russian society.
There will not be Ukraine without Europe, and there will be no Europe without Ukraine.
Therefore, the Ukrainians fight not only for themselves, but also for the whole of Europe. The resilience of the Ukrainian people as a modern day version of the bible story of David versus Goliath proves the determination to join the European family. But what is important is that Ukraine does not fight alone, but with the strong support of united allies based on an understanding of a common future. There will not be Ukraine without Europe, and there will be no Europe without Ukraine.
- This blog is a part of a blog series written by the BAMSE Riga intensive course students. The blog series analyses the concept of resilience from five different viewpoints: democracy in crises, regional responses, social consequences, relevance of history politics and cultural approaches. This blog belongs to the regional responses part of the blog series. Read more about the blog series on Bamse News & Events website.