Since the beginning of time, people have loved to take stock of the year that is ending and sketch plans and forecasts for the one that is about to begin. It is pure superstition because, truth be told, the last day of the year is no different from any other. But it serves as an anchor point in our mental structures. So, let’s go!
While we prepare to eat capon and foie gras from our regions, drink fine champagne, watch TV, or dance, millions of Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve under bombs and missiles that relentlessly rain down on their cities. Instead of the melodic sound of chimes, their nights will be punctuated by air raid sirens, and adults will do their best to preserve a semblance of festive atmosphere in underground shelters where their children sometimes spend weeks, if not months. Many towns and villages will be plunged into darkness because most of the electrical infrastructure has been destroyed by the Russian army. Residents will layer on several items of clothing to compensate for the lack of heating and will light wood fires where possible. Not to mention the front lines, where nighttime temperatures hover around 0°C and are likely to drop sharply in January.
The extraordinary resilience and incredible courage of Ukrainians give us much to think about. In 1940, Europeans were struck by the resilience of the British and their courage to face the ruthless German war machine alone, while “Uncle Joe,” having not only signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with the Nazis but also a friendship treaty, rejoiced at the impending defeat of the “English capitalists.” But those times are long gone. Today, the British government knows its army would last only a few days in a high-intensity war like the one Russia is waging against Ukraine. And other European countries are hardly better off or better prepared.
During the third of a century since the collapse of the USSR, we have lived in a kind of dangerous, potentially deadly illusion. We believed in carefree, everlasting peace, reducing our military budgets, converting barracks into housing or public spaces, abolishing compulsory military service, and so on. We were like La Fontaine’s Grasshopper, who partied instead of working to prepare for winter. Yet winter has fallen brutally on our continent: snow began to fall suddenly on February 24, 2022, and it continues to snow and freeze to this day.
In light of this, what words can describe the attitude of the Ukrainians? Like David against Goliath, this nation has ceded only a small part of its territory in almost three years. By February 24, 2022, Crimea and the “people’s republics” of Donbas already occupied just over 43,000 square kilometers. In almost three years, despite glaring superiority in terms of soldiers, weapons, and ammunition, the Russian army has managed to conquer only about 80,000 additional square kilometers, primarily during the first year of the war. It now occupies a total of 20% of Ukrainian territory, which is a rather meager result compared with Putin’s ambitions and those of his clique to occupy the entire country and change its regime.
Compared with the lightning speed of Hitler’s occupation of Europe, where only Great Britain, with significant U.S. support, remained free, this is a remarkable achievement. The Ukrainian army is probably the best in the world and by far the most battle-hardened. But it is also Ukrainian civil society that shows us an unprecedented example of courage and horizontal organization.
Already in 2014, when the Russians, under the guise of local pro-Russian forces, began occupying Donbas and the Ukrainian army was utterly disorganized after the Yanukovych years, private initiatives to create volunteer battalions, raise funds, and send ammunition and equipment to the front enabled Ukraine to resist. This societal self-organization, clearly demonstrated during Euromaidan, proved to be lifesaving. And this phenomenon has been replicated on a large scale during the current war.
Ukrainian society has fully earned its place within the EU and NATO. And if NATO is blocked due to a future American position or because of countries like Hungary or Slovakia, we will need to rely on courageous nations — primarily those that experienced Soviet occupation, such as the Baltic States, Poland, and Finland, followed by other Nordic countries and, hopefully, France and Great Britain — to build a new Europe, one that seeks to remain free and democratic.
In this future Europe, Ukraine will hold a place of honor. It will be built thanks to the blood of tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fought for their freedom and ours, as Polish resistance fighters once said. Let us reread the lyrics of the Ukrainian anthem, which wonderfully encapsulates the fearless spirit of the proud heirs of the Cossacks:
Ukraine’s glory has not yet perished, nor has her freedom,
Upon us, fellow Ukrainians, fate shall smile once more.
Our enemies will vanish, like dew in the morning sun,
And we too shall rule, brothers, in a free land of our own.
We’ll lay down our souls and bodies to achieve freedom,
And we’ll show that we, brothers, are of the Cossack nation.
Whatever the terms of a future armistice, Ukraine has already entered the Pantheon of heroic nations. Regardless of the destruction and territorial losses it endures, it will rise from its ashes, contrary to what the supporters of Realpolitik may think.
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!
Born in Moscow, she has been living in France since 1984. After 25 years of working at RFI, she now devotes herself to writing. Her latest works include: Le Régiment immortel. La Guerre sacrée de Poutine, Premier Parallèle 2019; Traverser Tchernobyl Premier Parallèle, 2016.
