This discussion would be interesting in Russia, and the question could be: are you ready to die in the battle against our freedom ?
The price of freedom
But we have a discussion here, in the heart of Europe, in Ukraine. And the question I ask is: what are we ready to do in order to live in freedom?
Freedom is not only the quality of life in a free country. Freedom is awareness, choice and action. Nelson Mandela said: “To be free means not just throwing off your chains, but living, respecting and multiplying the will of others.”
Ukraine's struggle is also a struggle for the freedom of others. For the freedom of Europe and beyond. It is a struggle in spite of fear, because it is a choice to live in freedom. This is the choice of our country.
I am a lawyer and I am a spy. This also means working behind enemy lines. And one day, getting ready to leave for zero, I put on armor, a belt and a helmet. And another kilogram … eleven pieces of equipment. When I put it on, I noticed that my heart was beating faster again. It felt like I was preparing for a date, and not for an enemy position. And then I asked myself if I was afraid?
It was adrenaline and, of course, fear. Fear of being captured or injured. But the main thing is that I did not go to die. But then I said to myself that the issue of injury could be just a matter of time. If you go to die for freedom, then one day it will happen. But if you go to fight for her, then the chances grow.
June 5th I got my wound. As you can see, it changed me: now I know how much my eye weighs, because I lost 10 kilograms.
I was very afraid to die in the hospital for the first two weeks. It was especially scary at night. But then I only realized that I was not going to die. I went to fight for freedom. Live for freedom. And war is only one form of life.
The highest value is too fragile
Hence the question: is humanity, the EU and the US ready to defend freedom? How is the global security system really prepared to protect freedom? After all, the Red Cross, Amnesty International, the UN actually died, but not for freedom.
EU citizens, and not only, have confidence that freedom will be with them forever. But how much will they have to protect her? After all, freedom is not a default state. No wonder Timothy Snyder wrote his book “The Path to Unfreedom”. Sometimes this path looks very similar to a gas pipe.
Freedom is really fragile, and I saw it with my own eyes. Then I had two. I was born in Afghanistan. I was 6 years old when we left there, it was 1990. A year ago, Afghanistan showed that it was not ready to fight for freedom. Neither its leaders nor its army.
Is Europe ready to defend its freedom? Or maybe she is ready to see her cultural monuments in ruins, filtration camps, reports that their neighbor is an artist or a poet, or, like me, a lawyer, was wounded at the front and he may not survive? I don't know…
Free people don't go to die
I know that Ukrainians have been choosing to defend their freedom for decades. From the nearest dates – 1991, 2004, 2014, 2022. Not only weapons, but weapons too. After all, freedom is our choice and way of life.
And one more thing… Ukraine does not send us to die. We choose to live in freedom and fight for that freedom. The war is already in Europe, and it is very important that Europe and the world begin to wake up. And how quickly they wake up completely depends on how many lives Ukrainians will give for our and your freedom.
