Lessons from the War Zone
KIRA RUDIKdelivered via video at the CALD 30th Anniversary Public Conference’s High Level Panel on the Future of Democracy in Asia on 9 September held in Taipei, Taiwan
Hello dear people of free Taiwan, I am Kira Rudik, member of the Ukrainian parliament, leader of the Liberal Party GOLOS, and vice president of ALDE. I’m speaking to you from Kyiv, Ukraine.
First of all, let me use this opportunity to say thank you, on behalf of Ukrainian people, to the people of Taiwan and the government of Taiwan. You have been amazing, supporting us in the fght, imposing sanctions on Russia on the frst day of the full-scale invasion, and supporting Ukraine with everything that we need. I remember last year, when I had the pleasure to visit Taiwan, how all the people were so helpful, so supportive, and so kind to me. How your leadership was incredibly kind. And then when I came back to Ukraine, there was more help to follow—frst of all, a million dollars to support Kyiv and buy diesel generators. So we would not freeze during the winter. And then more and more help in different areas.
Right now, as we speak, there are 50 emergency vehicles that are to arrive at the port of Poland and then to be transferred to Ukraine, from Taiwan. They will literally help save lives of the people. This is absolutely amazing. So I make it my personal job and my personal mission to make sure that people of Ukraine know who their true friends are, and that they have friends and allies in the people of Taiwan. I think this is amazing what you’re doing for us. And on behalf of Ukrainian people, thank you so much. Xièxiè, Taiwan.
believe that it’s been already 19 months since the full–scale invasion started. And that this is how our life looks right now. But no matter; we are so happy to be alive. So happy to be fghting. And so happy to share the lessons that we’ll learn during this time with you, our friends.
happened to us. When you’re fghting a country that is 10 times larger, has a larger army, and has military production, you have to be modern, you have to be creative, you have to be agile. You have to fgure out and advance in all the ways that you can. This is why we are building innovative drones. This is why we are creating all kinds of military innovations. Because we have no other choice.
The fourth lesson is to make sure that you hit where it hurts. Whenever we talk with our international partners about what can be done to hit Russia harder, I have one good answer: while the sanctions are working slower, military support can be faster. But there is one thing where Russia is not being hit enough: the Russian state assets, its money. As of this moment, there are US$500 billion of Russian money stored in democratic countries. These are frozen right now. What needs to happen with those monies is that they need to be confscated and used for the rebuilding of Ukraine. This way, not only Russia but all the other tyrants who are closely watching what is happening, as well as what would be the result of the invasion—they would know that all their money will be confscated. I think this is a very effective way of pressuring countries and stopping them from further invasions.
be ready, too. We in Ukraine know that we are fghting against the precedent—the precedent that in 21st century one country can attack another one, commit all kinds of war crimes, and get away with it. We say no, it’s not going to happen to us. And we know the people of Taiwan that this precedent is very important for you. We understand that. And I make sure that people in Ukraine know that and realize that.
There is one thing that we are absolutely sure of. We are sure that we will win this war. Remember, on the frst week of war, there were not too many people who believed that we would stand for more than a couple of days. Then there were people who did not believe—almost everyone did not believe—that we would get the heavy weapons. Afterward, there were doubts that we were capable of counter offense, then that we would able to get the tanks, then that we would regain Kherson. Then nobody believed there would be fghter-jets coalition. And of course, nobody believed that we would receive Patriot missiles. But you know what’s most important? We believed that, and we knew that we would be fghting for it. Same way as we are fghting for our country, fghting for our people, making sure that we will win this war.
“I make it my personal job and my personal mission to make sure that people of Ukraine know who their true friends are.”
So the frst lesson that we learned is the lesson of unity. We would not be able to fght this war alone, we would not be able to stand for as long as we have so far. I keep saying that there are two reasons why we are still here and still alive. The frst is the brave men and women of Ukraine who are fghting at the front. But the second reason is the brave men and women throughout the world who are standing with us, pushing their governments to provide us with weapons, supplies, money— everything that we need—pushing their governments to pressure Russia and make sure its economy will collapse. This is critical. So we know that for the future, we should even be better at making friends, to remember who supported us at this time of need, and to make sure that we build wider alliances.
The second lesson is that there would always be countries that will be neutral or be in support of Russia. And we need to fgure out how to work with them. We need to make sure that we bring them to our side. There are those who are saying that sanctions are not working or working worse than expected. But this is because there are countries like China or India or Brazil, which are still trading with Russia, helping it to jump over sanctions and making our struggle longer.
As you watch this video, it is fve or six a.m. in Kyiv. This is usually the time when the Russians attack us with drones and missiles, and my family and I are hiding under the stairs in our home, waiting until the attack is over. I cannot
The third lesson that we learned is you have to be technologically advanced, you have to be creative, when you are David fghting Goliath. We didn’t choose this war. It just
The last but not the least lesson is something that I shared with your president, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the members of Legislative Yuan last year: Be prepared for the worst–case scenario. Even if it sounds over the top right now. When you feel a threat, make sure that you are ready. Even though it seems over the top to build bomb shelters, it is not. It may seem over the top to train people how to operate weapons, but it is not. It is not over the top to make sure that people know how to provide first aid, and that kids at school know how to react to the eerie tyrants. The tyrants are watching, authoritarian regimes are getting ready. We need to
Dear people of Taiwan, thank you so much for standing with us, for supporting us, and for making sure that the values such as freedom, ability to defne your own future, value of human lives are not just meaningless sounds. This is something that you’re ready to fght for, and die for. But better to live for. Thank you so much. And glory to Ukraine.
vi e president, allian e of li erals and demo rats for europe party mem er of parliament, ukraine