A word from WowEssays:
You can help Ukraine now! Our essay writing service has already joined the fundraiser, and we call for everyone who visits our website and finds it helpful to check out these charities. Save Ukraine – save Freedom!
- Come Back Alive. Ukrainian charity fund that helps the army.
- Save Ukraine. Humanitarian fundraising initiative by Ukrainian business leaders.
- org. Sign up to provide temporary housing for displaced Ukrainian citizens or donate to their stays.
- Convoy of Hope. Disaster relief group that delivers food, water, and other basics to refugees entering Poland right now.
- Keep Ukraine’s media going. A GoFundMe campaign for journalists.
- Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian English-language news site.
- Razom for Ukraine. Ukrainian non-profit currently focused on purchasing medical supplies for critical situations.
- Voices of Children. Ukrainian charitable organization offering psychological help for children affected by war.
- World Central Kitchen. The group founded by the famous chef José Andrés that is now feeding Ukrainian refugees at the Polish border.
In the early hours of February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine, its neighboring independent state. Despite Russian troops violating Ukrainian borders and Russian missiles hitting military and civilian targets indiscriminately all over the country, Russia has denied it started a war. Instead, it cynically called the invasion a “special operation,” and president Putin has threatened those who would try to intervene with “such consequences, as you have never experienced in your history.” (Yeung et al., 2022) It seems that Russia felt confident enough that thinly veiled blackmail with nuclear weapons would be enough for the world to let it slide once again, as it did when Crimea was annexed in 2014. However, this time is different. This time we cannot just let it happen.
The world sympathizes with Ukraine. Suffering from unprovoked aggression and losing their children to mindless violence, the country is definitely on the side of good in the public eye. Yet Ukraine is more than that. More than a defiant hero in a drama we watch from afar. The stakes could not be higher for all of us.
The Threat to Freedom and Democracy
Ukraine is showing the entire world what it really means to fight for freedom and democracy, protect human life, and stand for what one believes in. If they are defeated, where does it leave us? Where does it leave the U.S. and our values?
Since the very beginning of Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the U.S. helped the emerging democracy thrive and the free-market economy develop. Matthew Pauly, an associate professor of history at Michigan State University and an expert on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, described Ukraine as “the only really functioning democracy of the few in the former Soviet space” in his interview to ABC News. (Deliso, 2022) He also pointed out that “democracy is worth protecting” since it’s “the best guarantee against war.”
The Threat to the Existing World Order
If we continue to watch silently, we can all find ourselves in a world we won’t like. According to Max Bergmann, a political analyst focused on military affairs and nonproliferation, this war defies the post-1945 world order. Bergmann, who served in the U.S. Department of State in a number of different positions, believes that if Kremlin succeeds, it will normalize the interstate conflict, throwing geopolitics back to the early 20th century where “might” is “right.” He warns that the hidden desire to redraw the borders to “reincorporate ethnic brethren ‘stranded’ beyond borders” exists all over the world. (Bergmann, 2022)
For example, China might feel that Taiwan is there for the taking if Russia gets away with it at low costs. Other countries also might feel empowered to use military force against their neighbors and rivals over territories they just happen to covet.
The Threat of Nuclear Catastrophe
Yet the situation is even more urgent than that. We must be firm and act now to stop this insanity before it is too late. Although the U.S., the European Union, and countries all over the world have deployed unprecedentedly harsh sanctions against Russia and particularly against members of the Russian elite (Toh et al., 2022), it could take too long for those measures to take the desired effect. In fact, according to Ben Wallace, the U.K. Secretary of State for Defense, “Putin doesn’t care about the sanctions.” Mr. Wallace suggested there is a false sense of pride in the Kremlin in Russian people’s ability to suffer and withstand misery. (Forrest, 2022)
Meanwhile, time is a luxury we cannot afford. The U.S. government is understandably cautious about taking one little step too far and triggering World War 3. Yet Russia’s unscrupulousness has already put the world on the brink of nuclear disaster several times. The Russian military seized control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant on the second day of the invasion. It held staff hostage ever since, not allowing their relief to take the shift. (Tuysuz & Qiblawi, 2022) They have recklessly bombed the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia before occupying it and giving it the same treatment as the Chernobyl power plant. The world holds its collective breath. We are now one stray bullet or one sleep-deprived mistake from a nuclear catastrophe of a scale 6 times bigger than the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the U.N. Security Council the nuclear catastrophe “was narrowly averted by the grace of God.” (Kramer et al., 2022) Yet how long are we prepared to gamble? Our thoughts and prayers might not be enough this time.
We cannot stand silent and watch a young democracy being smothered and reduced to rubble. We cannot let dictatorship win. We cannot allow bullies and terrorists to dictate their terms and blackmail us into submission. We cannot let the evil, power-hungry people gamble with the lives of the entire world. If we let Ukraine down, who can tell us we won’t be the next?
References:
- Bergmann, M. (2022, January 25). How the United States Should Respond if Russia Invades Ukraine. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-the-united-states-should-respond-if-russia-invades-ukraine/
- S. Department of the Treasury (2022, February 24). U.S. Treasury announces unprecedented & expansive sanctions against Russia, imposing swift and severe economic cost. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0608#:~:text=OFAC%20has%20also%20imposed%20blocking,combined%20assets%20worth%20%2480%20billion.
- Toh, M., Ogura, J., Humayun, H., Yee, I., Cheung, E., Fossum, S., Maruf, R. (2022, February 28). The list of global sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/25/business/list-global-sanctions-russia-ukraine-war-intl-hnk/index.html
- Yeung, J., Renton, A., Picheta, R., Upright, E., Sangal, A., Vogt, A., Macaya, M., Chowdhury, M. (2022, February 24). Russia attacks Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-23-22/h_d48db5391abae0b336a8217487043536
- Forrest, A. (2022, March 2). Putin ‘doesn’t care’ about sanctions because he believes Russians’ can suffer,’ says defence secretary. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russia-invasion-ukraine-putin-sanctions-b2026497.html
- Tuysuz, G., Qiblawi, T. (2022, February 25). Russian forces seize control of Chernobyl nuclear plant and hold staff hostage: Ukrainian officials. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/europe/ukraine-chernobyl-russia-intl/index.html
- Kramer, A. E., Schwirtz, M., Levenson, M. (2022, March 4). Russians Seize Europe’s Biggest Nuclear Plant and Gain in the South as More Ukrainians Flee. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/world/europe/russia-military-advance-ukraine-war.html
- Deliso, M. (2022, February 25). Why Americans should care about the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The risk of the conflict escalating beyond Ukraine is “high,” one expert said. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/americans-care-ukraine-russia-conflict/story?id=82907932
