A Vision of Victory

“The most important thing that is needed now for victory is the understanding of what victory is”

Valery Pekar

For the second time, I am responding to Valery Pekar’s call to civil society representatives to express their opinions regarding the fundamental principles of Ukraine. At one time, Valery Pekar proposed the “Ukrainian Foundations” project, which consisted of essays on the foundations of Ukrainian statehood, similar to the American “Federalist Papers”.

The vision of victory is actually a continuation of “Ukrainian foundations”. The vision of victory cannot be separated from the vision of Ukraine because the complete triumph of Ukraine is the creation of the state by the will of its people, even against the will of external forces. Therefore, it is necessary to start from the “end of history”, from the vision of Ukraine we aspire to see in the future.

Vision of Ukraine

Ukraine is a liberal democracy within its 1991 sovereign borders. Ukraine is a member of the EU and NATO. In Ukraine, a legal system operates according to the principle of the rule of law. Ukraine respects human rights. Freedom of expression is unlimited. Ukraine is a country where everyone can realize their vision of happiness.

In Ukraine, free market relations prevail over corrupt ones, and corruption has become low. Ownership is protected. Ukraine is a wealthy country with a prosperous society and an excellent investment climate. The middle class in Ukraine constitutes a significant part of the country’s population. Thanks to EU membership, the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, as well as Ukrainian energy, hard work, and the ability of Ukrainians to adapt to any conditions, Ukrainian society is getting rich at a crazy pace. Because of the last war, Ukraine quickly mastered innovative energy technologies and became a leading energy-independent state with a decentralized energy infrastructure.

The demographic situation in Ukraine is improving. The birth rate exceeds the death rate, and quality medicine has significantly increased life expectancy. Ukraine is an attractive country for economic emigration. Ukraine’s migration policy is aimed at economic development.

Ukraine is a strong state with a modern, high-tech army, one of the best in the world. Ukraine is a nuclear state. Ukraine is one of the strongest foreign policy players.

Conditions for the independent development of science and culture are ensured in Ukraine. Academic freedom is the basis of quality education, which provides the rapid growth of science, technology, medicine, arts, sports, etc. The primary and predominant language of communication in Ukraine is Ukrainian. This does not interfere with developing the languages ​​and cultures of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and national minorities.

Ukraine ultimately got rid of Soviet vestiges — not only in a symbolic sense but, first of all, in the destruction of Soviet laws and Soviet practices. In Ukraine, there is a policy of commemoration of the Ukrainian genocide, which happened during the times of both communism and the aggression of the “Russian world”, a policy of commemoration of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the commemoration of the dead, military and civilian, and respect for veterans. Communism and ideology of the “Russian world” and the crimes of the Soviet and Putin regimes were condemned by the International Tribunal. Political decisions of democratic states to recognize genocide and other international crimes are insufficient. Legal decisions of the International Tribunal are binding. Based on these historical legal decisions, not only the policy of memory in Ukraine is being built, but also a new functional international legal system for the non-repetition of crimes of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In the development of this international legal system, Ukraine, as a victim of aggression and genocide and as a victorious country, plays a significant role.

And what about Russia?

Many people will say — I don’t care, but someone wants to see Russia as a solid cemetery. But I will allow myself a more mercantile vision.

Russia is a state that lost a great war and was condemned for committing international crimes. Both perpetrators and organizers of crimes — alive or dead — were convicted. Russia has admitted guilt and has a memory policy based on repentance. Russia did not preserve its territorial integrity — centrifugal processes accompanied the defeat. National movements in many former federation subjects began to develop rapidly, and local elites realized their only possible choice was to escape Moscow. After the upheavals and ruins, the European part of Russia — the legal successor of the Russian Federation — was able to restore the economy and become a prosperous, democratic state that had been able to pay reparations to Ukraine for decades.

It is my vision of Ukraine’s victory.

Today’s state

Russia launched a war to destroy the Ukrainian state and Ukrainian identity. The full-scale invasion happened because of the totalitarian dictator Putin’s confidence in the weakness of Ukraine. He saw the destroyed state institutions, the incapacity of the state administration and the legal system, and the disorientation of the Ukrainian people, who elected a comedian as president and ignoramuses to the parliament. Putin had an illusion about the reluctance of the majority of Ukrainians to fight. He also saw the weakness and vulnerability of the Western allies. He did not believe and does not believe in liberal theory and in civil society, whose representatives are ready to defend freedom at the cost of their lives. He thought it was possible to destroy several thousand “Nazis” and “originally Russian lands will return to the bosom of Russia.” This was his fatal mistake, and he lost the blitzkrieg in Ukraine in the first month of the war. Ukraine won the first existential stage of the war. Now, having lost the blitzkrieg, Putin and his slave people are carrying out a genocidal policy in Ukraine and have also started a war of attrition that has been going on for two and a half years. Russia receives aid from the dictatorial regimes of the People’s Republic of China, the DPRK, and Iran. Ukraine receives aid from Western allies with strict restrictions on its use.

My article in “Ukrainian Foundations” was entitled “Advancing to Freedom”. In particular, I wrote about a certain immaturity in Ukrainian society. But now, society has grown a lot, having paid and continuing to pay a terrible price. Many processes that seemed to develop for decades happened in an instant under the impact of Russian missiles.

Instead, the development of Ukraine is hampered by the state. The first thing that catches your eye is that, in many ways, we continue to be in the Soviet paradigm of lack of freedom. Under martial law, we accept restrictions on rights and liberties that are neither proportionate nor lawful. Even though civil society (and not the state) has proven its strength and maturity in protecting the country, the state communicates with its citizens through contempt, restrictions, and repression. The state strengthens responsibility for military crimes (not to be confused with war crimes), does not cancel several purely Soviet norms and articles of the Criminal Code, abuses its defenders and veterans in the VLK and TCC, manages human resources in a strictly Soviet manner, does everything, in order not to pay compensation to the wounded and the families of the dead, disproportionately restricts and violates the rights of conscripts. In addition, due to the imperfect law on mobilization, the government splits society — the military and their families, on the one hand, and conscripts with their families on the other, not to mention that this law created huge corruption risks and turned the TCC into a monster. This is happening against the background of depression in society, which is connected with the understanding that war can last a long time — it is not known how long. The experience came after the PR of a “quick victory” and a “brilliant counteroffensive” that did not materialize, undermining people’s confidence in the authorities. The lack of freedom and hopelessness demotivates the military and the entire society. Our people are incredibly freedom-loving and brave, ready to risk life and health for the sake of freedom. But they are not prepared to sacrifice their liberty indefinitely. Not understanding this is the main mistake of the government. Motivation, respect, transparency, and legal certainty (particularly in terms) are needed in relations with the military, conscripts, and the entire society. Mechanisms of alternative service are necessary for those who are unable to serve, even by reason of conviction. Explicit guarantees of the state, which it strictly adheres to, are needed.

At the same time, we see:

• curtailment of democracy and freedom of expression;

• inability of the legal system to function effectively;

• weakness and dependence of the judiciary;

• arbitrariness of law enforcement bodies and special services, including forced disappearances, torture, and ill-treatment;

• pressure on business;

• the destruction of the civil service due to the creation of impossible working conditions;

• political persecution;

• attempts to curtail decentralization and take control of local authorities;

• corruption, which only increased during the war;

• the “fight” against corruption, which turns into political corruption, the same pressure on business, destruction of the civil service, political persecution, and systematic neglect of international obligations, threatens the anti-corruption system.

Human rights organizations, which were constantly engaged in the protection of human rights from the Ukrainian state, encountered such a mass of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation that they completely immersed themselves in the work with field documentation, investigation, and qualification of these crimes, losing control over the internal situation with human rights in Ukraine.

How does all this bring us closer to victory, to joining the EU and NATO? The heroism of our military and Western aid cannot compensate for Soviet laws and approaches, the degradation of state institutions, including the defense forces, the arbitrariness of state bodies, the impotence of civil society in the face of internal challenges, and people’s despair.

What is the way to victory? Paradigm of freedom

We have no choice whether to fight or not because it is a war aimed at our destruction. If we do not fight, we will not exist. It is a war of attrition. If we exhaust ourselves before then, we will be gone. I do not think Putin will agree to any conditions and stop the aggressive war. But even with a ceasefire, the war will not end. We can say to ourselves — phew, Ukraine survived; therefore, Putin did not achieve his goals, and this is our victory. But this will be self-deception. A cold war of attrition will begin as a preparation for the final act of destruction of Ukraine or the fall of the Russian Empire. We must rally again to avoid being exhausted earlier, as at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, believe in victory, and mobilize all resources.

It is pretty evident to me that the new unity of society to repel aggression is possible only in the paradigm of freedom: when the military is motivated to defend the country when volunteers can freely and quickly help the defense forces and civilians, when business can earn and invest in victory, when both business and state enterprises on a fair competitive basis can receive state orders and work for defense, when civil servants are not afraid to make decisions, when there is an independent court and the justice system works according to the principle of the rule of law, when law enforcement agencies do not engage in pressure, repression and corruption, but perform functions that belong to them.

Therefore, we need to start fighting for our rights again. We must demand the lifting of disproportionate restrictions on rights and freedoms during martial law. The mobilization and martial law laws, as well as several other laws relating to war, in particular, all Soviet norms and practices, must be reviewed and replaced according to Western standards and in accordance with common sense. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court must be ratified, and criminal legislation must be harmonized with it. Guarantees for military personnel and their families should be strengthened. Trust in the state must be restored due to its consistent implementation of guarantees to the military. After that, it will be possible to regain freedom of movement gradually.

We should ask our Western partners to pay attention to preserving freedom and democracy in Ukraine. The rule of law, judicial independence, and respect for human rights should be conditions for Western aid, not the profanation of the fight against corruption.

And, finally, we must demand from the head of state and his entourage that they care about victory but not preserving power, their fortunes, and ratings. They need to talk less and listen more to specialists and society. A good idea in this context would be to create a national unity government.

The struggle for freedom in our country in the conditions of the Russian invasion becomes urgent. This is because only a free society of responsible citizens in partnership with a robust democratic state can overcome a totalitarian empire that is many times stronger in terms of resources. And I believe we can change the country in the paradigm of freedom and achieve complete victory.