Roman Martynovskyy
Lawyer, Leading Expert
NGO “Regional Center for Human Rights”
Ukraine
Member
International Advisory Board of
Experts on War Crimes under the Office of the Prosecutor General
Ukraine
Member
Interdepartmental Commission on the Application
and Implementation of IHL Rules under the Ministry of
Reintegration of the Temporarily
Occupied Territories of Ukraine
Ukraine
Despite the enduring, unjustified, and horrific aggression of the Moscow state against sovereign Ukraine over the past 10 years and the numerous challenges faced by the Ukrainian nation in pursuing its path of Western development, today the shape of the Ukraine of the future is becoming increasingly clear. A painful transformation is taking place. Ukraine is no longer seen as an "eternal" victim – an image formed in the early years of its independence – instead, it is replaced by the perception of Ukraine as a courageous country – an outpost of Western civilization.
For decades, before the declaration of independence and even afterward, the vast majority of foreigners associated Ukraine with the Russian Federation. In turn, the latter sought in every way to maintain and promote the image of Ukraine as its own replica. In the pursuit of implementing imperial ideas and appropriating the achievements of the states that once constituted the Soviet Union, Russian Federation hoped to become a "mighty" Russia as it once was but ultimately transformed into a medieval feudal Muscovy. The responsibility for this, as well as for the war in Ukraine, cannot be placed solely on the leadership of the modern Russian Federation. The notion of an "innocent people" has no chance of being accepted in light of the hundreds of thousands of killed Russian invaders, who entered Ukrainian territory and the horrific, intrinsically inhumane comments from this very people left on social media posts about the deaths caused by Russian bombings and missile attacks on Ukrainian children, the destruction of schools, cultural heritage sites, and maternity hospitals.
Now, Muscovy resembles a creature that has attacked its victim, hoping to get forcibly what is usually achievable only through the voluntary agreement of both parties. However, when it seemed that those goals were close, it became clear that the victim of its unhealthy "passion" was ready to defend itself to the last breath. It turned out that in Ukraine a nation had formed that was no longer willing to see itself as an "eternal victim," a nation with values and a mentality extremely different from the population living in Muscovy.
The loss of Crimea was a severe blow to the young Ukrainian state, but it did not become the tragedy that Moscow had envisioned to internally destroy the Ukrainian nation. It did not happen because the part of the Ukrainian population in the Crimean Peninsula that fiercely supported the idea of "returning Crimea to the native harbor" actually had nothing in common with the Ukrainian nation. This was partly due to the fact that, in addition to Ukrainian passports which granted them the right to reside in Ukraine, they also held Russian passports, indicating their loyalty to the Russian state. On the other hand, a part of the Crimean population, mainly of retirement age, was not prepared to undergo the challenging path of restoring the full independence of Ukraine from a government that had shifted its attributes from Soviet to neo-Russian.
Crimea and Sevastopol became an unexpectedly easy prey for Moscow due to the weakness of the Ukrainian government at that time, the indecisiveness of Western partners, and the betrayal by a significant part of the Crimean population of their country of citizenship, Ukraine. The "legendary" Sevastopol, glorified in Soviet songs, demonstrated to the world not heroism but mass betrayal of its population to their own state. Traitors always seek opportunities to serve their new master. That is why today, Crimea and Sevastopol are at the forefront of Putin's "special military operation," and that is why their cemeteries are growing at a rate that can only be compared to the burial grounds of Buryatia and Yakutia.
The inadequate behavior of the Ukrainian government and the deficient reaction of the European and international community to Russian aggression, which began with the seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in February 2014, contributed to its further development – the seizure of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and a full-scale invasion in February 2022 onto the Ukrainian territory, from Mykolaiv to Kyiv. Despite the fact that the world has repeatedly witnessed the aggressor’s unwillingness to stop on its own and the fact that it can only be stopped by a resolute response, it continues to step on the same rakes, hoping that Putin will quit after conquering a part of Ukraine.
Nevertheless, more than thirty years of independence, especially ten years of war, have changed Ukraine for the better, in contrast to Russia, which has remained loyal to the "values" of the fallen empire that fell in 1917 but continued to live in the minds and hearts of Russians and their leaders. The atrocities committed by Russian invaders in Bucha and towns and villages adjacent to Kyiv, in Izyum in Kharkiv region, in Mariupol – the pearl of Ukrainian Azov, the torture chambers of Kherson, and the mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka in Donetsk region not only widened the gap between the Russian under-empire and Ukraine but also provided a significant impetus for the transformation of its genetic code for decades to come.
The entire world must acknowledge the truth that is obvious to Ukraine and its true friends, which is breaking through the ruins of the Mariupol Drama Theatre and the mangled residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, and other peaceful Ukrainian cities. The hope for the rapid advancement of European values to the east of Ukraine has collapsed, as present-day Russia mentally continues to live in a feudal world.
Today, amidst the wailing of air raid warnings and missile threats, prosperous, Ukrainians dream of a united and independent Ukraine respected throughout the civilized world and has survived an unequal battle with its eastern neighbor. Muscovy must not be allowed to win this war, as such a victory would question the continued existence of the entire civilized world. On the other hand, a victory for Ukraine would create conditions for Moscow to admit to the horrors it has committed and contribute to its return to the path of genuine respect for the rules of peaceful coexistence among nations.
Ukrainians have already achieved the main result in the ongoing war - they have proved, first and foremost, to themselves, and to the world at large that the Ukraine of the future will never be a replica of the Russian Federation. Equal partnership with civilized countries based on respect for universal values and human rights, ensuring food security for Europe and other parts of the world, and defending Eastern Europe's border against Russian barbarism will define the role of Ukraine and its destiny for decades to come.
With these features, Ukraine of the future will be perceived globally as a positive, although tragic, example that empires are powerless against the desire of a population shaped into a nation to break free from imperial chains and exercise its right to determine its own future without coercion from any third state.