What the “rashists” are doing is quite clear. They are trying to push us beyond the limits of endurance. To realize the advantages they currently have—the ability to launch hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles simultaneously, using the “challenges” faced by our partners and the shortcomings of our diplomacy in relations with partners.
I wrote here earlier, analyzing the factors of the “mathematics of war,” that Russia hopes to “win in the long run”—to exploit the weaknesses of Ukraine and its allies and extract the maximum from its advantages while it has them.
What should we do not to lose?
Maximally utilize the factor that gives democracy a chance to withstand even against a larger and more resourceful dictatorship.
What are these advantages?
Initiative and creativity, which are derivatives of freedom and pluralism. You can’t invent on command, and monopoly kills development.
The ability for self-organization, horizontal cooperation, and synergy. Repression and discrimination destroy cooperation and do not allow for the unification of all resources and opportunities of society.
Being perceived by other democratic countries as “one of their own,” which needs protection from aggression, especially from dictatorships. Corruption, anti-democratic practices, and the destruction of democratic institutions, unprofessional foreign policy question this perception and with it, the assistance.
We clearly see how the current government acts against these very advantages. Undermining the foundations that allow enduring against all odds.
So, it turns out “mediocre.” The front is not by the Zbruch or the Dnipro; Ukraine wasn’t broken in three days or in four years; help from allies continues to arrive. But we must not be content with “satisfactory.” The cost is too high—in lives, infrastructure, the future.
Therefore, urgent changes are necessary.
The work of anti-corruption institutions has exposed the rot. It must be completely eliminated. First and foremost, reboot the State Bureau of Investigations so they fight not with the opposition, but with top-level crime. Especially since the EU demands this as well.
The Verkhovna Rada should consider not the agenda of the “servants,” under which they cannot find votes, but issues necessary for supporting the defense forces, promoting innovations, and protecting citizens.
In external negotiations, all opportunities must be leveraged to achieve results. Increasing aid to Ukraine and developing defense cooperation. Strengthening sanctions on the Russian Federation and driving it out of markets. There is enough work for everyone here, and grasping for the status of the “greatest leader of modern times” is harmful.
These tasks are best solved within a unity coalition, which can develop a plan, sustain it in the work of the Verkhovna Rada, and form a professional government capable of executing it.
Allowing the government to work at a “mediocre” level is a significant risk. We cannot afford it.
Illustration: Dmytro Skazhenyk
