The United States Needs Ukraine as Much as Ukraine Needs Us

For centuries, the United States has symbolized freedom and hope for other nations, but recent years have revealed the fragility of our union. Although free and fair elections are a core tenet of our democracy, it doesn’t feel like we’re ready for the 2024 presidential campaign season. Sometimes it feels like the next crisis, whatever it may be, could break us under the weight of our political and cultural divisions. 

We would do well, perhaps, to learn from Ukraine, where Russia’s gruesome war has strengthened the nation and affirmed the very values that we hold dear: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This is one of the messages that the Zelenskyy family brought to the United States during their September visit to the United Nations. First lady Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said their visit was “about restoring trust and global solidarity.” She noted that solidarity is “our main weapon against aggression.”

Unity and mutual support are indeed great weapons against evil and injustice. I witnessed the reality of this last month while delivering medical trauma kits to soldiers fighting in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian people, and the courageous men and women who are defending their freedom, are deeply committed to each other and have resolved to live free or die. Much of their strength comes from unity as they fight to ensure that their children and grandchildren will live in a democratic Ukraine. 

While I was visiting Ukraine, I received a few messages from American friends. One asked how the war was going. Another had questions about U.S. involvement in Ukraine. He wasn’t upset — just conflicted. We’ve been hearing less about Ukraine in Western media and, for some time, more people have been speaking out against U.S. aid to Ukraine. The questions and comments go something like this: “Don’t we have enough problems of our own?” “Isn’t Western aid being squandered?” “Nothing seems to be changing, and we have no idea when the war will end.”

These are fair questions. Still, they are asked by people with the luxury of freedom of speech, far removed from the chaos, destruction and danger of an invading foreign army that threatens their freedoms. But let’s not be naive: Russia is threatening our freedom and exploiting our divisions. There are many good reasons why it’s important to stand with Ukraine, but the most important is that America needs Ukraine. The world needs Ukraine.

Ukraine is fighting for all of us.

On this last trip to Ukraine, I spoke with one soldier who said two things. First, he believed that Ukraine waited too long to break free from Soviet bondage. The Soviet Union methodically worked to eradicate Ukrainian cultural identity and indoctrinated many Ukrainian people. In the early 1990s, Ukrainians overwhelmingly voted to leave the Soviet Union, but it took many more years before Ukraine stopped living under the shadow of the Russian Federation. When Russian President Vladimir Putin realized that Ukraine was slipping away, threats and violence ensued.

The second thing the Ukrainian soldier told me is that he is defending Ukraine’s sovereignty so that his children and grandchildren don’t have to point their weapons at the West. He understands that, in the unlikely scenario that Russia is victorious, their corrupt value system will lead toward further violence against the West.

Ukraine is successfully using Western weapons in combat and systematically wearing down one of America’s greatest threats.

For many years, Ukraine was essentially a neutral country. They gave up their nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees. This left them vulnerable to their enemies. One Ukrainian colonel with whom I spoke expressed his gratitude for U.S. assistance and weapons. He said that when the Soviet Union broke apart, Ukraine was “left with bricks” to defend itself. He joked that when Ukrainian soldiers first faced Russian tanks, they would take their one brick and break it in half so that they could face two tanks. Western weapons have changed the course of the war for Ukraine. This colonel proudly showed us the Stinger missile that his men used to take down a Russian jet near Donetsk city just days earlier.

Before his men had more advanced U.S. weapons, the Russian military frequently attempted to push through the Ukrainian defense line in that area. The colonel told me, “Now [the Russians] are afraid.” Along with expressing his gratitude, he asked the United States to send more aid.

Ukrainian soldiers aren’t practicing for war; they are successfully defending their country. The scope and scale of this war is something that the world hasn’t experienced in a long time. From weapons to technology to strategy, Ukrainians are showing the world how to fight a war against one of the greatest enemies of democracy. We don’t know the final outcome of the war, but we know more about what works, and what doesn’t, at this scale and against this foe.

Ukraine is showing the world that freedom and democracy are worth defending and dying for.

One day on the eastern front, we were scheduled to meet a group of soldiers who are responsible for recovering bodies from the battlefield. That morning, our team woke up to gun battles in the distance and we learned that it had been a difficult night, with great losses on both sides. By the time we arrived to meet with these soldiers, they had spent all night and all morning rescuing people and recovering bodies. They were so depleted that they could barely speak with us. These men, and many others in Ukraine, show up to work every day because they believe that freedom and democracy are worth the effort.

One soldier who died in the area that we were serving was named Roman. He was a few days away from having some time off and planned to link up with our team in his hometown of Dnipro. At 23, Roman had been married for only five months. Instead of meeting with him, we met with his grieving widow, friends and family.

Young and talented Ukrainians are giving up their lives to show the world that freedom is worth defending. Many have given up a promising future so that their wives and loved ones can someday live without air-raid sirens, missile strikes, and Shahed drones. Roman’s wife told me that his Christian faith had motivated his sacrifice: He died so that others could live, as we are taught in 1 John 3:16that Jesus laid down his life for others and his followers. 

Don’t give up on Ukraine — and don’t miss the opportunity to learn from the struggle in Ukraine. A lot of blood has been spilled to uphold the values that Americans hold dear, and it’s likely that more will be spilled if we let Ukraine’s needs fade from view.

Ukraine needs more defensive weapons. That’s the type of support that our elected officials can, and should, continue to provide.

The rest of us can continue to support the humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people. Organizations like World Vision, the Ukrainian American House, and my friends at Word of Life Ukraine are meeting the most basic needs of thousands. Recently, two foreign aid workers were killed while serving the Ukrainian people through a charity called Road to Relief. Groups like this need our ongoing prayers and help.

As we continue to support Ukraine and come to know her people, maybe the tone and nature of our questions will change. As we learn from Ukraine, maybe some of the divisions that we experience in the United States will begin to heal. Standing with Ukraine will make us all stronger.