Stand With Ukraine!

Karl Alatu, JBANC

Nearly four months after the renewed Russian attack against Ukraine, we don’t know what the result will be in the end.

Will brave Ukraine, with the help of Western military assistance, be able to drive away the invaders from the East? Or will the armies of Putin continue their ruthless assault and bleed the Ukrainians dry, occupying further territory along the way?

Before that happens, there is plenty to worry about.

Despite the amazing Ukrainian resilience that the world has witnessed, writer Julia Ioffe, the Russian American journalist, points out in the online publication Puck that “tomorrow will be worse.” Tamping down feelings of being overly optimistic over a series of Ukrainian successes, as she relates on June 14, the authorities in Kyiv are now publicly revealing Ukrainian military losses. They are staggering in a total war in which the Ukrainians are outmanned and outgunned by Moscow’s armies, who have been laying waste to civilian infrastructure and lives. Yes, the war grinds on, at the added expense of our own good conscience and national security considerations. Ukrainians, while fighting valiantly, are not only dying for Ukraine but they are also sacrificing for us.

As former World Chess Champion and political activist Garry Kasparov states in his monthly e-newsletter on June 13, “the free world cannot stand by while Ukrainians bleed for our freedom. For all of us who love democracy, this is our fight too.”

What can we do?

Russia must be repelled. For the Baltic countries, there can only be one satisfactory answer: total victory for Ukraine. Since Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are seen as next possible targets, it bears repeating that Russia must be defeated with no conditions for appeasement or ceding Ukrainian territory which has been illegally occupied. We cannot relent.

It is our responsibility to do what we can now to help Ukraine. In that way we help the Baltics. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are members of the NATO alliance, and the Baltic countries have security guarantees that Ukraine dreams about. However, we’ve seen how brutal, indiscriminate, and mindnumbing the Russian invasion has been. It is crucial to stop Russia now before any of the evil cascades across Baltic borders. It will not be pretty, and the cost will only grow if we don’t do so.

It is a problem if Ukraine fades from the headlines and interest in helping wanes. Let’s keep it in the public’s mind.

Here are four ways to keep involved, and keep Ukraine, and our concerns, trending:

1. keep writing and sharing your views on social media, with your friends, family, and communities;
2. join Ukrainians at their rallies and protests or help to organize one;
3. support Ukraine by donating to charitable causes supporting Ukraine;
4. contact your elected officials and members of the United States Congress to express your concerns.

As to the fourth point, on June 9-10, the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), under the auspices of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, held its first in-person Ukrainian Days advocacy event in Congress since the covid pandemic began. Approximately 40 meetings were held with offices of Senators and Representatives. The Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC) participated both days to give support to the cause and Polish Americans were also present.

In the briefing papers prepared for the event, it was stated that “there has been tremendous bipartisan support for Ukraine in the past several months since the kremlin’s [sic] war of aggression was expanded in February 2022. Now, unlike ever before, we must sustain that support and build upon it.”

This support was bolstered by the appropriated funds of $13.6 billion and $40 billion over the past few months for Ukraine. The funding isn’t in the form of a blank check. It is going to support many specific programs and is also helping the United States to backfill materials sent to Ukraine. While the supplemental aid packages are helping to provide crucial military, humanitarian, and economic assistance, the shelf life for most aid will be short, and more support is needed on all fronts. It’s not certain if a new supplemental bill will be signed by the end of summer. Materials being sent to Ukraine must get to its destination in time to push back against Russia’s aggression.

Ukraine continues to need heavy weapons now to counter the huge disparities in military might, even if Russian troops and materials are being decimated daily. There are growing concerns about the looming food crisis, as Russians are targeting the Ukrainian agricultural sector, and stealing and destroying Ukrainian grain reserves or shipping stolen grain for their own profit, much in the way as they have ransacked other strategic areas. Additional measures should assist Ukraine in exporting crucially needed foodstuffs to worldwide markets. President Joe Biden’s announcement on June 14 that the U.S. would be building temporary grain silos in Poland to handle Ukrainian grain exports, which are now blockaded in their seaports, is an important step.

One of the main points during the Ukrainian Days advocacy event was to call for the designation of Russia as a state sponsor of terror for the brutal atrocities inflicted upon the Ukrainian population. There are resolutions in both the House and Senate (H.Res.1113 and S.Res.623, accordingly) which call upon the Secretary of State to do just that. In addition, as stated, there are other “measures expanding programs to assist Ukraine in the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are important signs of political and judicial support.”

These are important to support now, to put more pressure on the U.S. government to do more in stymying Russia.

The UNIS briefing booklet further explains that the sanctions regime directed against Russia needs to include more banks banned from SWIFT, the expansion of a “freeze and seize” program against oligarch assets, and the application of additional sanctions on the financial and energy sectors.

These are all proactive measures that will help fill in the gaps that are still existing, and which would further penalize the Putin regime and reverse any Kremlin fortunes that are being gained by the sale of Russian energy to Europe and beyond.

These steps are but the tip of the iceberg, but all-important areas that need more calls and pressure from concerned U.S. citizens, beginning with our own communities. If we don’t pitch in or continue helping Ukraine, it may be that the tide will turn, and it will be us instead asking for help to save our Baltic brethren from Moscow’s destructive imperialist ambitions.

Please contact JBANC if you’d like to help: [email protected] or via social media.