Standing with Ukraine

If you had told me in March 2022, in those early days of the war when we founded KHARPP on the Polish-Ukrainian border, that this is where we would be in three years’ time, I am not sure what I would have thought. That America is abandoning Ukraine at this moment is beyond belief. The fear we all feel now is overwhelming. On the other hand, the fear in those early weeks that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would not be able to hold Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa was so extreme, that the fact that three years later, all of these major cities remain under Ukrainian control must be a source of optimism.

That being said, the feeling of dread is real and immense. I am sure that all of you, who have stuck with us for so long, are feeling it too, as is anyone who cares about the future of democracy or human rights.

At the Ukraine demonstration in London on 22^nd February, I was very honoured to speak, representing KHARPP. What I said there was this:

What we have witnessed over the past two weeks has been nothing short of the greatest betrayal of a nation by its supposed allies since Poland in 1945. It is easy to sink into despair about this, and to feel that all is lost. But we have no right to do this, when every single day Ukrainians are still fighting and dying for their right to live in freedom and peace, and for ours. When I feel despair, I think of the grandmother I met in a hamlet five kilometres from the russian border in Kharkiv Oblast, who remained in her home through occupation and the relentless shelling that followed, even after the rest of the hamlet had fled. When I asked her why she had stayed, she responded that for as long as she lived on that land, the land would be Ukrainian. I think of my old Ukrainian teacher, who spent the early days of the war handing out her 500-page Ukrainian grammar textbooks for the defenders of Kyiv to use as breast plates. I think of the 79-year-old man from Melitopol, who fled occupation through russian filtration and now lives in Kyiv and builds drones to ensure that nobody else needs to lose their homes. I think of Ivan, an eighteen year old Ukrainian boy who was living in London until last summer, when he decided that he had to act, and was killed defending his homeland a month ago. I think of every single man and woman who has given up their lives to defend us on the frontlines, from teenagers to pensioners. We have no right to despair; our only right is to support. Ukraine remains the shield of Europe, but it is also a place of warmth and of love and of kindness. The darkness we feel now will not last forever. Ukraine will be whole again. The best time to have given Ukraine everything it needs to survive was eleven years ago; the second best was three years ago; but we could also do it now. Britain and the rest of Europe must act, for Ukraine’s sake and for our own.

I believe in this even more now, two weeks on. In our villages, our team continues with repairs, after we paid for windows and doors for eighteen more homes in Tsupivka last week. They will be delivered by the end of the week. Serhii continues with the work on the three cottages in Cherkasy Oblast and we are looking forward to visiting him in the next few weeks and seeing the final results. The front holds and life continues, against the odds. We are not going anywhere: we are with Ukraine for as long as it takes, supporting those who leave and those who stay behind.

With gratitude to all of those who continue to support us and to stand with Ukraine,

Ada