Ukraine enters its 5th year defending against Russia

Today 24th of February the Russian invasion of the whole of Ukraine enters its fifth year, after four brutal years of combat, population displacement, bombings, death, injuries, war crimes and urban razing and total material destruction. It counts more than 12 years since Russia started the invasion of the Donbass and annexed Crimea.  

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, an intended 3-day special military operation by the Kremlin, did not just mean a radical change for Ukrainians. The EU was forced to seek alternatives and greatly increase US energy imports. International movements also showed a different kind of world, as outside of ‘the West’, the reactions went from lukewarm indifference to outright support for Russia, if only for self interest in an alternative, multipolar worldview (as China), or deep-seated anti-Americanism. As such, sanctions made some dents in Russia but did not prevent it from continuing its war and obtaining key spare parts for the most part, either from Chinese substitutes or by third countries.  

Trump’s victory, and its actions ever since (from the consideration of the EU as an enemy to the disregard of Ukraine) and particularly its tacit acknowledgment of a multi-polar order with spheres of influence and its open legitimation of imperialism and the use of military force for political goals, have strengthened Putin’s hand and made up for the little he has to show on the ground, where tens of thousands are sent to die as cannon fodder in the largest trench carnage seen since World War I.  

The US president and his acolytes have also joined the Kremlin’s effort in undermining democracy in the European Union, by subsidising and publicly aiding any far right, extremist group they could find. This sometimes pays off well, as when Hungary blocks aid to Ukraine in the EU Council. Given the insurmountable costs for Ukraine of a military defeat, and the terrible risks that hosts for the rest of the European Union, the EU’s only choice is to maintain and strengthen its support. Supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence effectively is not just a duty to the Ukrainian people, it also would mean a promise for the world, that the rules-based order can be a reality, and not just soft coating for US missiles. That the EU and its allies can provide the world with an alternative to ‘might makes right’ and predatory imperialism, because we have already gone down that path before.  

The EU should continue seeking a durable peace settlement that ends the killing, one that allows Ukraine to recover its territorial integrity and to flourish independently, that helps guarantee fundamental rights and freedoms to its citizens, improves working and living conditions, and provides the millions of Ukrainian refugees a home to return if so they wish. Intervening at the EESC plenary, Workers’ Group President Lucie Studničná said ‘As a mother and grandmother, I can't even imagine what they are going through, and all the suffering caused on soldiers, on their families, on civilians, on internal and external refugees. On the ones who feel the bombs at home and the ones who doubt they will ever see their homes again. Europe must step up the aid to Ukraine, and must also make sure rights and labour standards are respected as much as possible’