Yuliya Tymoshenko: Ukraine has already won three crucial battles

The former prime minister says Ukraine's war against Russia is underpinned by its identification with western values, and is being powered by a renewed sense of unity

Yulia Tymoshenko addressing a protest in Kiev hours after her release from prison on February 22, 2014. The former prime minister writes that Ukraine has had to win battles against its own dictators. Picture: Efrem Lukatsky/AP 

Nearly two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war’s end seems nowhere in sight.

Nonetheless, Ukraine has already won numerous important battles, many of which we began fighting long before Russia’s latest assault on our country. These victories will, I am certain, help to ensure our final victory in this vile and violent war.

Ukraine belongs in Europe

Ever since we regained our independence in 1991, Ukrainians have struggled to be seen as part of Europe.

Today, however, no one thinks of Ukraine as some no-man’s land linking Russia and the West. And only the most delusional of Russians still imagines that Ukrainians will ever again see their country as part of some ‘Russkiy mir’ (Russian world) — a fever dream of Vladimir Putin that apparently contributed to his decision to launch a war of aggression against us.

Instead, it is now clear to the entire world that Ukraine is in the West and of the West as European as France, Italy, Germany, or anyone else. Our core values are Western values: Liberty, democracy, and the rule of law. And our membership in the premier European and Western institutions — the European Union and Nato — await only our inevitable triumph over the Russian invaders.

Battles within Ukraine

The second long-running battle in which Ukraine can declare victory is internal. 

Since regaining our independence three decades ago, the Ukrainian people have twice needed to rise up to overthrow dictatorial regimes that gained power by applying the old divide-and-rule principle. The divisions they exploited, cynically and ruthlessly, were those between our country’s west and east, between its Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking communities.

Russia undoubtedly hoped to take advantage of precisely these divisions, in both invading and occupying our country. A defeated, disunited people would be easier to govern. But virtually all Ukrainians now understand the dangers to our very existence that superficial antagonisms pose. 

At a time when much of Ukraine’s east is living under the Kremlin’s boot, it is clearer than ever that only a fully united and sovereign Ukraine can provide and safeguard our people’s freedom. 

New sense of unity  

This newfound unity can be seen every day, as Ukrainian men and women from all walks of life, from every part of the country and practically every age group, risk life and limb to defend our homeland. Our fighting forces, on the frontlines and behind the lines, are truly the Ukrainian nation at arms.

Whereas Russia has been sending prison inmates to the frontlines, Ukrainians who have joined the fight include some of the best and brightest. 

• Vasyl Kladko, an X-ray crystallographer at the VE Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, was gunned down by Russian troops in Irpin during the Battle for Kyiv early in the war. 

• Oleksandr Shapoval, a leading dancer in our national ballet company, died on the battlefield in Donetsk in September.

• Victoria Amelina, an acclaimed novelist who had dedicated herself to documenting Russian war crimes, was killed by a Russian missile this past July. 

These are just a few examples of the Ukrainians who have died defending our country’s right to exist.

Ukrainians’ sense of shared purpose has unleashed not only our courage and fighting spirit, but also our talent and innovative capabilities. 

Ukrainian innovation

When the war began, Russia’s military expenditure was nearly 10 times higher than ours. Ukraine’s only hope of leveling the battlefield was to leverage our citizens’ creativity. Our achievements on this front have astonished the Russians and our friends in Nato alike.

Ukrainian innovations, developed largely through public-private partnerships, have not only changed the nature of the war; they have been remarkably cost-effective. 

For example, commercial drones have enabled Ukraine to engage in effective and relatively inexpensive reconnaissance along a 965km frontline — something Russia’s forces never expected. According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Ukraine’s “drone swarms” will “change combat dramatically”.

Air and sea drones

In order to ensure that Ukraine can continue to make the most of this innovation, the Ukrainian General Staff, the State Special Communications Service, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the Defence Ministry have launched the Army of Drones project, which enables people around the world to contribute to the cause. 

With thousands of drones destroyed every month, these donations are enabling our military to replenish supplies quickly.

Our innovative use of commercial technologies has also cost Russia in the Black Sea. After Ukraine destroyed Russian ships using traditional anti-ship missiles, Russia’s navy began to operate farther from shore. 

But Ukraine has taken the fight to Russia, by converting ordinary jet skis into a fleet of explosive-packed, ship-killing maritime drones. Now, we are adding an even more dangerous weapon to our arsenal: The Toloka TLK-150, a practically undetectable one-way unmanned underwater vehicle, created by a Ukrainian technology-development cluster.

Today, Ukraine, using the tremendous ingenuity and resourcefulness of its citizens, is leading the way in fortifying the arsenal that is defending democracy.

Modern strategy

Ukraine’s military is also innovating strategically. Russia’s generals seem determined to wage war exactly as their grandfathers did in the Second World War, with centralised, top-down decision-making that regards ordinary soldiers (and not just the convicted murderers and rapists sent to
Ukraine as cannon fodder) practically with contempt.

By contrast, Ukraine’s commanders and citizen-soldiers have significant leeway to respond to events on the battlefield and shape command decisions. Ukrainian computer programmers apply their skills (and the latest AI assets) to support Ukrainian fighters’ ability to analyse circumstances and respond in real time.

Dismantling Russia's fifth column 

A third crucial battle that Ukraine has already won is the battle against the Russian fifth column. At the time of Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, our security services and military leadership were severely compromised by men and women who had sold their loyalty to Russia.

We have spent the last several years purging disloyal officials from positions of influence. This has improved the relationship between our military and political leaders, and it has assured our Western allies that Ukraine can be trusted with even the most sensitive intelligence.

This battle for trust was, in a sense, the most consequential for Ukraine. Our people trust our military and political leaders, not blindly, but with an abiding faith that, unlike the men who occupy the Kremlin, are accountable to the people they serve. 

Such trust is essential to the preservation of liberty: It is because of the belief that our leaders will deliver a final and definitive victory that Ukrainians have willingly made the kinds of sacrifices (home, family, and physical safety) that have become the norm in our proud country.

• Yuliya Tymoshenko is a former prime minister of Ukraine.

• Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2023. www.project-syndicate.org