OPINION: No Illusions: What Will Really Stop the War?
Ukrainians have lived through 1,461 days of the full-scale war. That is over 72,000 air alarms, almost 20,000 explosions, and countless bombardments and shellings. That is over 13,000 missiles and 142,000 drones of various types. That is more than 15,000 dead and more than 41,000 injured civilians. These are 4 years of losses and victories, pain and hope, ups and downs.
And these four years are absolutely enough to get rid of all illusions.
Ukraine’s drones are hitting deeper and deeper into the rear of the Russian Federation, but this is not enough. And Moscow has launched its Oreshnik, but did not force the Ukrainians to surrender.
It is quite clear that there is no magic agreement that would encourage Russia to withdraw its troops and stop terror either. Because complex issues cannot be resolved in a simple way.
And the negotiation track is just a way for the Russian Federation to stall for time as long as possible, to fool the West and postpone new sanctions. After all, Putin does not show any signs that he is ready for peace.
There will be no sensations
This war can no longer surprise. It has become a painful routine for both Ukrainians and the West, where the news is limited to the number of destroyed homes, energy infrastructure, and civilians killed.
There are no more sensations. At meetings with our partners, at all international forums, Ukraine cannot provide any new information. It has long been known that Russia kidnapped 20,000 Ukrainian children. The scale of the Russian Federation’s terror against Ukrainian energy is also known.
Everyone knows very well how many missiles the Kremlin can produce, and who helps with the details. The scale of the shadow fleet, how Moscow continues to export its oil, parallel imports, loopholes for circumventing sanctions, real export prices for Russian oil, and what the Russians are putting into their budget are known too.
And all our partners who are truly interested in ending the war understand perfectly well what needs to be done. The only way is to put systematic pressure on Russia and provide real support to Ukraine.
Sanctions should work in such a way that Russia has no resources for new weapons and payments to its own personnel and mercenaries. This should be a strong noose around the neck of Putin’s economy, not slow knots that they have time to adapt to.
“No matter how exhausted we are, surrender will not bring peace. Not to us, not to Europe, not to the whole world.”
Ukraine needs weapons and missiles for air defense systems, and the systems themselves. We are grateful for the support, for the praise for the Defense Forces, for the right words and statements of intent, but this cannot stop the Russian missiles and drones that fly into our cities every day and every night.
Words do not protect against Russian artillery at the front and bombers in the sky; they cannot be used to fire on enemy equipment or personnel.
To surrender means to die.
Russia considers time to be its ally in this war. Its strategy in Ukraine is to bite off a piece (sometimes a meter) of territory at the front and terrorize the rear with cold and darkness. It is stalling negotiations and arranging hybrid attacks in NATO countries, fueling populist movements in the West, and interfering in elections.
The Kremlin is playing to exhaust everyone so that Ukrainians surrender, so that partners get tired, so that the money to support Kyiv runs out.
And no matter how exhausted we are, surrender will not bring peace, not to us, not to Europe, not to the whole world. To understand what will happen the next day after Ukraine falls, it is enough to look at the territories that Russia occupied.
Forced mobilization of men, militarization of adolescents, and erasure of children’s identities. Banning of language, eradication of culture, rewriting of history, repression of religion, confiscation of property, and eviction to other regions of the Russian Federation. Torture, executions, terror.
Everyone shares our experience over the past four years of war in Ukraine. Everyone here has been to the funeral of a loved one who died at the hands of the Russians – from bombings or at the front.
We don’t need sympathy, we need action.
Everyone here spends the night in a shelter, basement, or subway during air raids. Everyone has property damaged by the strikes — whether it’s a home, a car, or an office. We know what a blackout is and how to survive with children in homes without electricity, water, and heating in the coldest winter in the last 20 years.
We know how to transfer drones, electronic warfare, and cars to the military (friends, colleagues, relatives who serve) because it is faster and easier. What “+” means in response to a message, and that the words “How are you?” often contain more love and care than an entire poem.
Now, little Ukrainians who have never seen peace and quiet in their lives are going to kindergarten.
Children for whom a plane means bombing, and hum is not about a motorcycle or an old car, but about a drone that brings death.
Children for whom a thunderstorm will never be a thunderstorm, but only the sound of a missile explosion.
Children who have not seen their fathers because they are at war.
So when you ask what Ukrainians have felt over these 4 years, the answer will be fatigue and pain, but not willingness to surrender. The question of surrender was not relevant for us in 2022, nor in 2023, nor in 2024, nor in 2025, and it certainly is not relevant now.
And if you ask Ukrainians what they want to tell the world, the answer will be — instead of sympathy, we need action.
Because the real end of the war, the real guarantee of peace on the continent is a weakened Russia and a strong Ukraine, which will be able to protect not only itself, but also all of Europe.