HARD ROAD TO VICTORY

Читати українською

Regarding the negotiations in the Washington-Kyiv-Moscow triangle with stops in Istanbul…

I had to put aside and postpone what I have been doing all these days in a row and what I have to continue today in order to express my opinion on what the media, bloggers and the general public are talking and writing about the most on social networks right now. Yes, we are talking about the negotiation memorandums of Kyiv and Moscow, about attempts at direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, about the statements of Zelensky, Putin and Trump, about the arrival of another Ukrainian delegation to the USA… Huh! The spirit is seized by just one list of strings of facts and events that have become tangled in a tight ball that is rolling into a dead end with no way out. Despite Trump’s attempts to persuade Putin to compromise (a deal) to end the war, the Kremlin has stuck to its horns and is ultimatum-style demanding the complete surrender of Ukraine. Kyiv, represented by ZeTeam, under pressure from the same White House master, is ready for a complete ceasefire, declaring the impossibility of fulfilling Moscow’s conditions, that is, the impossibility of surrender…

The most interesting thing about this rave is the following.

Russia, including the Russian opposition forced into exile, which is now touring the world and (with rare exceptions) does not support Ukraine in its resistance to the aggressor, is aware of the purpose for which Putin initiated the “green men” operation against Ukraine in 2014, and then unleashed a full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, turning the territory of Ukraine into a complete ruin, killing hundreds of thousands and making millions of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians (including those of Russian origin) wounded, and making tens or more millions of Ukrainian citizens (including those of Russian origin) displaced persons. There, in Russia, they know what they are doing and why they are doing it. The Russian opposition, which is dreaming of changing the Putin regime in the Kremlin, strangely enough, does not even stutter about the importance of Russia’s defeat in this war. They are not even learned the lesson of Lenin, who considered Russia’s defeat in the First World War the first and necessary condition for the Bolsheviks to come to power.

In Ukraine, the entire political “elite”, which came to power thanks to the Maidan of 2013-2014 and as a result of the presidential elections of 2019, without having a strategic vision of the prospects for the development of Ukraine as a sovereign state and pursuing its own petty interests, consciously or unconsciously practically surrendered the interests of Ukraine wholesale and retail to the same Moscow, allowing Russia to bite off the territory of Ukraine piece by piece and allowing the Kremlin to whet its appetite for encroaching on ever larger and larger bites. “Cease firing” and the desire to reach an agreement with Putin “somewhere in the middle” were the key ideas of Zelensky’s presidential program, and he did a lot for this by demining Chongar, building roads and bridges in the border regions of Ukraine, refusing to listen to warnings from foreign intelligence about the Russian Federation’s preparation for an invasion of Ukraine, and concealing the real state of affairs from Ukrainian society… The political “elite” of Ukraine, even with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, did not realize the nature of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The United States, of course, pursues its interests in international relations; this is quite natural, and Ukrainians cannot a priori demand that Americans be 100% pro-Ukrainian. From the point of view of implementing these interests, the current president’s administration (government), the US Congress, and American politicians and businesses form their policy towards Russia and Ukraine. American elites (intellectual, political, business, etc.) have rather limited ideas about Russia and Ukraine and the relations between them, which they have taken from American secondary and higher education schools and picked up from the screens and columns of the media. At the same time, it should be remembered that the Eastern European direction of education and enlightenment of Americans has been determined by the Russian historical myth and clearly expressed pro-Russian influences for over a hundred years. Of course, under these conditions, it is difficult to hope that the political elite and government officials and even the intellectual elite of the United States can have proper knowledge and awareness of the true nature of Russian aggression towards Ukraine and why Moscow simply cannot imagine its existence without Ukraine, if not in the constitutionally approved composition of Russia as an empire, then at least in the sphere of its full, or even total, influence.

If the intellectual elite of Ukraine had been Ukrainocentric and had properly fulfilled its mission during the three and a half decades of Ukrainian independence, today Ukraine would have education, enlightenment, and a Ukrainocentric media system, and therefore a well-structured Ukrainian civil society with a high level of national consciousness and civic maturity (responsibility), and Ukraine itself would be different and distinct from what it is now. If this intellectual elite of Ukraine had been committed to its mission, through its connections abroad, and above all in the Ukrainian diaspora, it could have seriously engaged in debunking the Russian historical myth, would have opposed Russian propaganda with its anti-Ukrainian narratives on a broad informational and cultural front, and would have formed a true positive image of Ukraine.

Unfortunately, this did not happen. The authority of Ukrainian science and education and Ukrainian media outside Ukraine has fallen catastrophically, and Ukraine is practically losing in the world information and cultural space. Two waves of the Ukrainian diaspora, the driving force of which was the Ukrainian intellectual elite, at one time had a truly powerful impact on the societies in the countries of their residence, and therefore on the relations of the free world with the USSR. The next generations of this intellectual elite, educated in the countries of their residence, succumbed to the influence of the Russian historical myth, and therefore it is not surprising that their descendants, continuing the intellectual activity of their grandfathers and fathers, have come to terms with the status quo and do not even make attempts to resist the influences of the Russian historical myth. Intellectuals who come from Ukraine abroad for long-term work or as visiting scholars and professors carry with them the burden that education and science of independent, but still Soviet Ukraine endowed them with. This is what is saddening…

Thus, Ukrainians abroad does not have the intellectual power capable of raising the level of pro-Ukrainian awareness of the intellectual and business, and therefore political elites, at least of those countries of the world where numerous Ukrainian communities live, through which they would exert due influence on politicians and government officials of the respective countries. This was noticeable in 2014, that is, with the beginning of Russia’s direct aggression against Ukraine, when representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora became more active abroad, attracting attention to themselves (and therefore to Ukraine) with their appearance (primarily embroidered shirts) and Ukrainian flags; most of these people had not even shown themselves as activists in Ukrainian communities before and were even Russian-speaking. Information and outreach work was and remains overwhelming for these people. Representatives of the old Ukrainian diaspora, who had and have access to target audiences in political, intellectual and business circles, due to their level of educational training and awareness, did not even think about the urgency of establishing Ukrainian-related education and consulting politicians and government officials of the relevant countries of the world. 

The failure of our information and outreach work, at least in countries with compact residence of large Ukrainian communities with a large number of Ukrainians working as universities and colleges professors, has been especially clearly felt recently, that is, during the full-scale war with which Russia entered Ukraine in February 2022. Only a few representatives of the multi-million Ukrainian diaspora in the USA and Canada have shown themselves to be more or less conscious by publishing in reputable American publications and Internet resources. Obviously, the situation is not better in the countries of Europe and other continents. The awareness of the urgency of establishing such work, unfortunately, did not increase with the course of the war.

Carefully monitoring information processes, I have not even managed to accumulate enough materials to generalize and analyze this problem, and therefore I will not discuss individual examples, or even mention names, but will proceed from my own experience and my own attempts to stir up the information swamp in which the topic of Ukraine’s fight for its existence is literally drowning;

A couple of weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as the Ukrainians Worldwide Movement Organizing Committee Chairman, I wrote the Appeal of Representatives of Ukrainians Worldwide, published on March 12, 2022, in the hope that it would be supported by, if not millions, then hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and representatives of other nations who took Ukraine’s side in this war. To my great regret, the Appeal did not gain even a thousand signatures. Only 250 people supported the Appeal, and most of them were not Ukrainians, but representatives of other nations from 30 countries around the world. Ukrainians in their mass turned out to be indifferent, and this can be seen from the way in the Ukrainian segment of social networks they spread and commented on links to this Appeal or expressed their attitude to it with likes. Sad, isn’t it?

I really hoped that the Ukrainian Worldwide Information Network (UWIN — http://www.ukrainainc.net) would grow into an information resource capable of becoming an independent force in the worldwide information space. But this did not happen either. Neither in Ukraine nor in the Ukrainian diaspora did there appear to be any Ukrainocentric journalists and bloggers who could provide our resource with up-to-date information and balanced analytics. Even on a paid basis. We were forced to limit ourselves to reprints from social networks, and in these reprints of ours, not Ukrainian authors prevail, but representatives of other peoples and countries, whose levels of awareness and analytics qualitatively exceed the level of emotionally charged Ukrainian authors.

During the war years, I had to write many articles devoted precisely to the informational and explanatory components of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Among them are articles about the nature of this war, about the Russian historical myth as a factor in this war, as well as about the Ukraine’s victory strategy in this war. Almost all of these articles were published not only in Ukrainian, but also in English. It is noteworthy that these articles found more understanding and support not among Ukrainian, but among English-speaking readers, and I am sorry to state this fact.

The aforementioned publications formed the basis of my book “Existential War: The Nature of Russia’s War On Ukraine & Ukraine’s Victory Strategy”, which was recently published in English and is now available on Amazon (see: https://www.amazon.com/dp/196692464X). A simple search on Google and Amazon will show that very few books have appeared on the topic of Russia’s war against Ukraine, and my book is the only one devoted to the nature of this war and the Ukraine’s victory strategy in this war.

It was very important to me that this book be published in English and that it urgently reach the eyes of politicians, government officials and expert analysts who participate in decision-making, and therefore also the libraries of universities, colleges, secondary schools and public libraries. Unfortunately, not everyone can or wants to buy this book for themselves or as a gift. That is why I have launched a fundraising campaign to support the distribution of the “Existential War” book. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are needed for this campaign. A generous donation will help bring vital information for Ukraine to those who need it most — https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-to-distribute-prof-ivanenkos-book.

Now there is a situation where this book of mine can and should help politicians, government officials and expert analysts of the world’s countries to understand what they have not yet understood and realized in the causes and course of this war, as well as to clarify, correct and finally decide which side to take in the situation that has been developing recently.

I very much hope that conscious Ukrainians, first of all, and then pro-Ukrainian representatives of other peoples and countries will respond to my initiative and support my efforts in distributing and delivering copies of my book to the hands of every member of Congress and the US President administration, every politician and government official of other English-speaking countries, and in the rest of the countries — those speaking English. In particular — in Ukraine. So, if you, reading these lines, consider it possible to donate some amount to distribute my book, follow the appropriate link and “treat me to a coffee” — make a donation to distribute Prof. Ivanenko’s Book. Remember that such a donation will be no less important than your donation for drones, cars and other technical means for fighters on the front line.

After my “Existential War” took its combat position on Amazon, as a journalist, scholar, and entrepreneur in the information field, I came out with an initiative that should have appeared in the conference rooms of the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian academies of science and universities long ago, but, unfortunately, did not appear either in the thirty pre-war years of Ukraine’s independence or in the three years of the full-scale war, and which I now present as an independent private-public initiative, the All-Ukrainian Information and Cultural Fund.

This AUICFund should become the financial base for the implementation of the following projects: (1) the creation of a Ukrainocentric all-Ukrainian system of mass media and the formation of a Ukrainocentric information space and a powerful information and cultural front; (2) financing of scientific research, publishing, and educational activities to debunk the Russian historical myth and disseminate truthful information about Ukraine, Ukrainian history, and culture; (3) establishing Ukrainian studies education and enlightenment through an Ukrainian studies network; (4) funding an all-Ukrainian award for journalists, scholars, and literary and artistic figures for the most outstanding achievements on the all-Ukrainian information and cultural front (in the latter case, we are not talking about another meager award with a medal, which are now being given out by everyone, but about a prestigious award of the level of the American Pulitzer Prize with a solid financial reward). 

The goal of the initiative is to collect $100,000 for the start, and over time to create a sustainable financial base of millions of dollars, sufficient to implement the above-mentioned projects. For this, it is not necessary that much — for the Ukrainians worldwide to splurge on average by $50: someone can donate only $1, $10 or $100, and someone – $1,000, $10,000 and more… A sponsorship contribution or donation can be made by following the link: We are building the All-Ukrainian Information and Cultural Fund. You can also make a donation using one of the following options: CashApp — $UkrainaInc; PayPal — via e-mail ukrainainc@yahoo.com or by card, by following the link — https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ukrainainc; Bitcoin — bc1qvuv9zsdvpf53uzq9lr2305ht3kawxd36gt4n0n

This is not a situational initiative of short-term action, like many of those that Ukrainians are used to. This is a strategic initiative designed for the long term — for years, decades, and even a century to come. It is with this approach that we will not only win the war imposed on Ukraine by Russia, but also build a truly independent, successful and prosperous Ukraine, in which everyone will live comfortably and happily. Therefore, it would be simply wonderful if the Ukrainians worldwide finally showed their sincere and truly strategic solidarity and unity.

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!

Prof. Dr. Volodymyr Ivanenko,
Ukrainians Worldwide Movement Organizing Committee Chairman, Ukrainian University Club and Ukraine Inc President.

June 3–4, 2025

The article is published on the resources: http://www.ukrainainc.com; http://www.ukrainainc.net; http://www.ukrainainc.org; http://www.ukrainianuniversity.club; http://www.ukrainianuniversity.org; http://www.volodymyrivanenko.com.

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Contact email: ukrainainternational@gmail.com; ukrainainc@gmail.com; ukrainainc@yahoo.com.