Address of Commander Andrii Biletskyi
The situation at the front is critical. I realize that I am breaking rank with the numerous clarions and heroes far behind the front lines who have been pacifying the nation. Words like “heroism” and “stabilization of the front” are reassuring, as are stories about thousands of dead enemy soldiers and their burned-out tanks. By contrast, this wake-up call might seem very harsh.
It is time that we very bravely and very directly faced the truth. Arrayed against us is an extremely powerful and violent enemy, one that has prepared a very long time for this aggression. We must admit to ourselves, to our shame, that we once called this enemy our friend and our strategic partner. We have proven ourselves unprepared for the resistance that is needed. Even the fact of being in a state of “ceasefire” for the past four month has not meant that we have prepared ourselves adequately in the reinforcement of our own defenses. All this time we have placed our hope in the abstract “what might be” way of thinking, that Russia might settle down if we would only forget about Crimea; or that the West might help us, etc. Russia has not been pacified, and the West has yet to come to our assistance.
The time has come for us to make the most important decision of our lives, as individuals and as a country: to live or to die. If we give up and die, then the course of action is easy and clearly understood. If our decision is to live, the implication is that we will defend ourselves fiercely, painfully, over the long term, and with complete self-sacrifice.
This war can no longer be a war led by generals and politicians. They have fought their war and they have lost. This war is now a war of the armed citizenry.
Here at the front one will find an adequate supply of weapons and determination. What we need are men, soldiers, volunteers. We need everyone for whom Ukraine and her freedom are concrete realities for which it is worth dying.
Join us. Your front line brothers in arms are calling and we welcome you!
Glory to Ukraine.
