A Ukrainian’s message to Europe from 400 km east of Warsaw
From: Euromaiden Press BY OLEKSANDR YAKOVENKO
We Ukrainians are the only buffer between the cozy European theory that “Russia is weak” and reality.
If the Europeans don’t face reality now, they’ll have to confront it when these “weak” Russian divisions push past Ukraine, into Europe.
I was a presenter at the REbuild Ukraine event in Warsaw. I was explaining how, while under fire, Ukrainians are building shelters for schools, clearing rubble, and pouring new foundations. Because we cannot live inside ruins, but must live on in spite of them.
The participants would listen, come up to me, and tell me in hushed tones, as if admitting betrayal: “Very powerful… but we can only invest in dual-use technologies. Investing directly into military capabilities is too toxic for our current mandate.”
Europe, you have created a new religion. Its main dogma can be summed up as “don’t call things by their names, and they won’t exist.” It’s a kind of shamanism for the 21st century: if you start calling a munitions factory a “dual-use technology hub,” then [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin won’t notice.
Putin is not the one you are afraid of. You’re afraid of your own reflection in the mirror. Because to use the term “military spending” is to admit that Europe is already at war.
Voice of Ukraine 