148. Facts speak volumes

I am happy to receive some hate mail today, saying that I misquoted the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in my post yesterday.

My friends should have verified for themselves, since nothing is secret nowadays, but no worries – I am simply sharing the full letter my friend sent yesterday. I based my message to the President on this letter, using a poem.

I am not a supporter of Zelensky, anyway, despite having respect for the energy he shows and his love for his country.

I believe his stubbornness has caused greater harm to the country. The war, which could have concluded in months, persists.

He allowed himself to become a puppet of U.S. President Joe Biden, who had his own grievances with Putin.

I am not a political person, so even though I am fully aware of Ukraine’s politics and history since the declaration of independence in 1991, I have no interest in discussing them, as they wouldn’t serve any purpose now that the damage has been done.

But let us not forget that during all five presidencies since 1991, the situation with Russia was handled far more precisely, even though there were several serious conflicts. The situation shifted when the current President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was sworn in on May 20, 2019. 

It was not sudden. First, the bonhomie was evident when, at the end of 2019, Russia's state-owned energy company, Gazprom, and Ukraine reached a five-year agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe. 

The crisis emerged when, in the same year, amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution explicitly affirmed the country's irreversible commitment to joining the EU and NATO.  

And then in early 2021, Zelenskyy chose to shut down pro-Russian TV channels controlled by Taras Kozak, a parliamentary deputy and close associate of Viktor Medvedchuk, who is the godfather to Vladimir Putin's daughter. Thus, it became personal.

In response, Putin released an essay titled On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, emphasizing that Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians should form a single all-Russian nation within the Russian world. He asserted that they are one people and that the forces that have always sought to undermine their unity have sought to divide and rule. He wrote that “I consider the wall that emerged in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between parts of essentially one historic and cultural space, as one big, common problem, as a tragedy.”

It is another matter that a poll conducted in April 2022 found that 91% of Ukrainians do not support the thesis that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

Now, consider the tragedy: Zelenskyy's military adviser Oleksiy Arestovych stated that up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers died in the first 100 days of the war. It has now entered its fourth year.

Putin has signed decrees to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts of Ukraine into Russia. These annexations are not recognized internationally and are considered illegal under international law. 

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and former President, publicly stated that Ukraine is NOT a country, but artificially assembled territories, and claimed that Ukrainian is NOT a language but a mongrel dialect of Russian. He also expressed the view that Ukraine should not exist in any form and asserted that Russia will persist in its war against any independent Ukrainian state.

In this volatile situation, the President should have directly communicated with Putin instead of traveling globally to seek military assistance. NATO has lost its core purpose and the resolve of its member states, making it unlikely to ensure security.

Russia will never accept another power dictating the Ukrainian establishment, as Ukraine serves as a vital buffer zone for Russia’s security against NATO. A compromise may be the only solution to this crisis, which has claimed the lives of thousands of young men and women, including the husband of one of my friends, who was a pilot.

Now read the full message released by Zelenskyy yesterday - 

Dear Ukrainians!

Tonight is a very special evening – Christmas Eve. It is a unique time, filled with a special spirit, with its own special magic for all of us. Because this evening is truly about all of us. About everything that makes Ukrainians who we are. It is love for our home, our roots, and our traditions. It is the happiness of the whole family gathering around one table – finally meeting, embracing one another, and asking each other, “How are you?” All of this has always been an inseparable part of our Christmas. But for the fourth year in a row – the fourth year of the full-scale war for independence – there have been attempts to take all of this away from us. 

And this is exactly what we are defending today: our land, our families, that longed-for feeling of peace and calm in our own home. When we are warm. When we have a delicious meal. When we are together. And despite everything, we are together today as well. And that is how it will be today, because it does not matter whether we are apart or face to face – Ukrainians… Ukrainians are together. And no one can take that feeling away from us. It is this feeling that gives us hope, gives us all this, and helps us endure – despite everything.

We mark Christmas in a difficult time. Sadly, not all of us are at home this evening. Sadly, not everyone still has a home. And sadly, not everyone is with us tonight. But despite all the suffering that Russia has brought, it is not capable of occupying or bombing what matters most. That is our Ukrainian heart, our faith in one another, and our unity.

And that is why millions of us will wait for the first star in the sky tonight. In the skies over Kyiv and Zakarpattia, Odesa or Kupyansk – wherever we may be. Ukrainians are together tonight – marking Christmas on the same date, as one big family.

Without a doubt, the times of war have changed us. And what matters now is not so much how we decorate our home, but how we defend it. And it hardly matters what dishes are on the table – what matters is who is at the table.

And that those who are defending us right now and cannot be nearby, cannot be at home, are still in touch. That we can hear their voice, even if only for a minute, and receive the most precious message of all: “I’m okay.” And joy today comes not from bright illuminations, but simply from light – the light in our homes and the light within us.

And we are happy when we hear the music of Christmas, but even more so when we do not hear the music of evil – when we do not hear drones and missiles flying overhead.

On the eve of Christmas, the Russians once again showed who they truly are. Massive shelling, hundreds of “shaheds,” ballistic missiles, Kinzhal strikes – everything was used. This is how the godless strike. This is how those act who have absolutely nothing in common with Christianity or with anything human.

But we are holding on. We support one another. And today, we pray for everyone on the front line – that they return alive. For all those in captivity – that they come home. For all our fallen heroes who defended Ukraine at the cost of their lives. For everyone whom Russia has driven into occupation and forced to flee. For those for whom it is hard, but who have not lost Ukraine within themselves – and therefore Ukraine will never lose them. Today we stand shoulder to shoulder. We will not lose our way in the darkness. Whether in person or in our thoughts, we will wish one another well, we will embrace and warm one another, call our parents, kiss our children, hold our loved ones tight – and, of course, remember – remember all our people.

And as long as all of this lives in our hearts, as long as the human being lives within us, as long as our faith – and this simple, yet powerful human desire to live – has not gone out, no evil stands any chance. And further proof of this are our wonderful children, who these days gather together, dress up in different costumes, and go out – just as it was done before – to bring people the joyful news: the birth of the Son of God. And just as before, we open our doors and open our hearts, and we preserve our traditions; and just as before, we all sing our carols together. And it is so important and so precious that all of this has endured – that it has not vanished, not been erased, not forgotten – that it continues and lives on. And as long as this goes on, we have not vanished, life will prevail, and Ukraine will be preserved.

Dear people,

Since ancient times, Ukrainians have believed that, on Christmas night, the heavens open. And if you tell them your dream, it will surely come true. Today, we all share one dream. And we make one wish – for all of us.

“May he perish,” each of us may think to ourselves. But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater.

We ask for peace for Ukraine. We fight for it. And we pray for it. And we deserve it. That every Ukrainian family may live in harmony. That every Ukrainian child may rejoice in a gift, smile, and preserve that so very important childlike faith in goodness and in miracles.

That the eyes of our children, the eyes of our parents, our loved ones, our families may finally stop crying. That goodness and truth may prevail. That there may be a victory of peace. That there may be us. And that there may be Ukraine. And, inevitably, the day when everyone gathers at home in the first peaceful year, at a peaceful Christmas, and says to one another: “Christ Is Born! Glorify Him!”

I congratulate all of you on the holiday, dear Ukrainians! To each and every one of you, I wish a happy Christmas, delicious kutia, and, of course, peace for us all!

Take care of yourselves, take care of your families, take care of our Ukraine!

Christ Is Born! Glorify Him!