Read this text from Volodymyr Kukharenko to understand the everyday life of Ukrainian people:
I have not been on vacation for four years. I have had no business trips to establish new connections. Currently, I live and work about 70% of the time without electricity. I had to buy batteries. On average, every two weeks I wake up in the middle of the night to explosions. My children have spent hundreds of days sleeping outside their own beds. Some of my friends have been killed; others are on the front line. Some members of my team joined the army, and one of them was wounded. I’ve seen hundreds of videos and photos of destroyed homes, murdered people, torture and executions, and children’s funerals. I may end up in trenches myself.
Do I want the war to end? Of course I do. Much more than you — believe me. So why don’t I support the “peace plan” Trump is pushing?
Because one does not have to be a genius to understand that this plan would bring only a short pause before a much bigger war. If no one but Ukraine uses force to stop Putin, why would he stop? He will come up with another excuse for why his army must move further. And if he knows that neither the U.S. nor the EU will intervene, what will stop him?
I often hear the argument: “I just want people to stop dying.” I want that too — far more than you —b ecause I am one of those people. But if Ukraine withdraws without a fight from the cities in Donbas that it has fortified for years, why do you think that will save lives? About 300,000 people live there. They will either have to flee or stay and undergo “filtration,” which means many will be tortured and executed. Men will be forcibly drafted into the Russian army. And then that army will march further, forcing Ukrainians to kill Ukrainians. Tell me — how does that save lives?
It also means the Russian army will gain the ability to bomb territories that are currently safe. The war will not end. Ukraine will simply lose its fortress cities without a fight. Those who “just want to go home to their families” and support this idea will eventually find themselves fighting again — this time in even worse conditions.
And who says that if they go home, they won’t be quietly taken in the middle of the night and simply disappear? That would be the most logical thing for Russia to do if it takes over. Genocide is the only way to break a nation’s spirit. In the 1990s, they killed 25% of the Chechen nation. They killed millions of Ukrainians before. They killed in Bucha and Izium in 2022, and in other occupied cities — you can find the photos if you want. Why do you think they won’t repeat it?
There is nothing that would protect us from this scenario. That is why there is absolutely no reason for me to support this plan. We need peace — not the horrors of occupation.