From: Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (1113th day:
Some well-meaning (or plainly hostile) followers on my FB page argue about why we, Ukrainians, should want to stop the war. I picture them sitting comfortably in a Starbucks, sipping cappuccinos, explaining how war is bad—how Ukrainian men, women, and children dying from Russian missiles and bullets is bad, how the destruction of our cities and infrastructure is tragic.
But what they don’t understand is this: surrender to putin’s demands doesn’t end the war—it only pauses the killings. Without Ukraine gttingreal security guarantees, putin will regroup, rebuild, and return to finish us off.
For us, this is an existential war. If putin succeeds, Ukraine will cease to exist. It may not matter to those on the other side of the “beautiful ocean,” but it matters to us. It’s life and death even in a short term for us.
A few weeks ago, we met Anatoly Spiskovsky—a man who spends all his time and nearly all of his $110 retirement pension restoring small drones. These drones, salvaged from the battlefield, provide vital reconnaissance to our troops. Anatoly isn’t rich, he isn’t powerful, but he gives everything he has because he knows Ukraine’s survival depends on ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Others who learn about his work also contribute, knowing that every effort, no matter how small, can save lives.
It reminded me of the parable of the poor widow:
Mark 12:41-44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
During that infamous Oval Office press conference, President Trump said to Zelensky and to all of us, “You won’t last two weeks without our help.”
But three years into a brutal war, we are holding back what was once considered the world’s second most powerful army—not because of the will of mighty nations, not due to grand alliances or political maneuvering. We endure because millions of Ukrainians, like Anatoly, refuse to surrender. Our fate is not decided in the halls of power, but on the battlefields, in workshops, in volunteer centers, and in the hearts of those who refuse to surrender.
We fight for our freedom and our future.
Voice of Ukraine 