This is a critical moment in the war. The tanks can make a difference.
Ukrainians are gaining ground in some areas but meeting fierce resistance in the south where Russians have had time to dig in and fortify their positions.
President Zelensky said the other day that approximately 50 of his soldiers are dying daily.
You stated recently that leadership is not about giving people what they ask for.
Understood. But it’s not just anyone asking for assistance with weapons.
It is Ukraine. A heroic country fighting for its life.
You speak of needing to be prepared for an attack on your nation.
Of course, so by no means deplete your stock of armament, but you are part of NATO, and at this unique historical moment, a bond has been created between Western nations that will be honored in case of such an attack.
The US Congress just approved a large amount of additional aid for Ukraine.
We too, in America, have to contend with depleting stocks, so some of the approved funds are going for just that.
I am glad that you approved an increase in your nation’s defense budget. This is the time to use those funds.
There is the growing awareness in Russian citizens that this is not a war for them to lose their lives over. The Motherland is not being threatened. It’s all about Putin’s inflated sense of himself. His dreams of grandeur. And many Russians are seeing it for what it is so they are desperately trying to flee. Those who acted quickly managed to get out. Those who vacillated may have a harder time leaving since the military has now sent personnel to border points to hand out draft notices and block their exit.
How do you transform a man or woman wanting to leave their country to escape the draft into a willing soldier? You can’t.
Somehow, somewhere, people’s lack of motivation will show. And it will translate into pain and suffering.
Putin is carrying on believing he can keep bending his people’s will. But resentment is building and it will soon show up in other places.
His desperate effort to legislate that conquered territories become a legitimate part of Russia is a sham.
Ukraine will not accept it and will fight to recapture all of the land Russia has seized, now and in recent years. It is their land. And with the support of the west and their enormous courage, they are on the verge of accomplishing their dream.
Their fight against Putin is a fight against totalitarianism. A fight with which all of us identify.
Your tanks will make a difference.
I see fear in Putin. I see growing desperation. The war has come to Russians’ homes, to their children. He has given a pay incentive of an additional $800 dollars plus a month to soldiers. Yet not a single explanation of why he assigns such a dismal value to their lives.
The hypocrisy, the sadism, the brutality keep mounting.
But Putin is no madman.
He will count the loss of lives methodically, coldly, to arrange for his next move. ’50 Ukrainians dead today, 90 yesterday, hmm, what happened?’
It is unbelievable the scale of atrocities committed in defense of lies.
And so, as Ukraine presses on, the West must too.
We trust and hope that Ukraine will become a bastion of democracy and an inspiration to all nations on earth. It will be up to them to make that a reality. And so far, they’re saying, ‘Yes, we will’ and backing it with their lives.
Our reward is not what they accomplish, but the sense that in an hour of need we lent a hand. We gave our best. We risked ourselves.
Please be generous Mr Scholz. Send in the tanks.
Putin must be confronted, no matter what the size of his threats.
A nation is bleeding for the sake of liberty.
Oscarvaldes.medium.com
Oscar Valdes 