Features
Lessons from Ukraine
When Ukraine is mentioned these days, what readily comes to mind is war? Wars are not something that people relish, that is, rational people. It leaves a destruction so devastating in its wake and there is nothing nice to ever cherish about it.
In the First World War, about 16 million people were killed and in the Second World War at least 50 million people were killed. The destruction of the world economy cannot be underestimated. The social cost was also quite astronomical.
A lot of soldiers returned home with various degree of injury. Some soldiers were maimed for life, others had post-traumatic psychological issues and were never their former selves.
A little background to this Russia-Ukraine war will be helpful for this article. Ukraine used to be part of the Soviet Union, which was a union of several states including what is currently called Russia.
After the breakup of the then Soviet Union, Ukraine became an independent country. However, when Vladimir Putin became President of Russia, he as well as a section of the population, felt a certain loss of esteem and if you like, the glory associated with the former Soviet Union.
In 1994, the Western powers led by the US forced Ukraine to agree to hand over its nuclear weapons to Russia and they were to guarantee Ukraine’s protection in what is known as the Budapest Memorandum.
Things begun to get ugly when countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union, started to rid themselves of the influence of Russia. Putin was particularly upset when the pro-Russian president of Ukraine was overthrown through a popular uprising of the people.
He then engineered a separatist movement in the Eastern part of Ukraine and brought in Russian soldiers to support them to fight the Ukrainian Army. Russia later annexed Crimea, which is the Southern part of Ukraine, in 2014.
Finally, when the US and its allies did nothing, it emboldened Putin to attack Ukraine in February 2022, in what has become known as the Russia-Ukraine War.
Here comes the thrust of the issue at the core of this article, namely lessons from Ukraine. A lot of people were shocked to hear or read that, Russia had attacked Ukraine and their soldiers have crossed the border into Ukrainian territory and were heading towards Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
I recall reading a story about former President Biden of USA sending a message to the Ukrainian President Zelensky that he is sending a plane to take him and his family out of Ukraine and his response has stuck with me.
He said “The fight is here; I need ammunition not a ride”. This bold statement invoked or rekindled the spirit of patriotism and galvanised the entire population into action, to defend their country with their lives.
Later reports that surfaced, indicated that Putin thought he could conquer Ukraine within a few days, but the war has entered its fourth year now, due to Ukrainians resolve to defend their country, at all cost.
The war between Ukraine and Russia is like the Biblical battle between David and Goliath and so Ukraine should not have survived the might of Russia at all but they had something that the Russians did not realise, which is determination, arising from a winning mindset.
The will to successfully defend their country gave them overcomer’s mindset and that is the lesson for us in this country. We need to have a mindset of overcoming challenges and the sky will be our limit. God bless
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah