My grandmother always wanted me to live in a time when children would not be afraid of thunder. She survived World War II as a child, and only now do I understand the depth of her words. Perhaps I would also like to live in a time when children are not afraid not only of thunder, but also of airplanes in the sky, fireworks, the roar of motorcycles, when nobody has to keep supplies of technical water at home, a go bag, and an eternal supply of canned goods. Because I, like tens of millions of Ukrainians, see only war in these sounds, images, and habits.

What is it like to live during the war?

It’s definitely not about fear, but about things you could never imagine until they touch you. To live during war is not to know where you will spend the night. You can have a whole house and live in a city relatively far from the frontline, but the risk of being hit by missiles and drones is everywhere. An air raid alarm usually starts at night. You’ll wake up from the siren and have a choice: if it’s drones, then you have time for them to fly up, but if it’s ballistics, then you won’t even have time to blink.

It’s good if it’s summer and warm in the shelter. But in winter, during the terror of the Russian federation against the power system, when there is no electricity, we sit in cold, dark parking lots or basements (where we manage to run). With children, pets in blankets, and all the warm clothes we manage to take.

To live during war is to be prepared for the fact that one day your home, everything you have spent half your life building and furnishing, may be destroyed. The way it happened to my house on January 2, when a rocket hit nearby.

To live in war is to catch the blank stares of passers-by and understand their thoughts without words. Because this person may have received the most terrible news about their loved ones who are fighting or in frontline communities. Or maybe on the contrary — she finally received a message from someone with whom there was no contact for a long time. Or simply, like you, did not sleep because of anxiety and attacks.

To live in a war is to know who among your relatives, friends, and acquaintances are serving, and where. In which division, in which direction, and what they need right now. And to continuously search for it. Look for cars (which do not survive at the front for more than two weeks), drones, and spare parts for everything. Everybody is a volunteer here. Because if you are not in the army, your main moral duty is to find everything needed by the one who is now risking their life for you.

The worst part of life in war is funerals. There are a lot of them and these are people you knew, with whom you grew up, whose death is impossible to believe. There is the last tribute on the Maidan, where hundreds of citizens come, even if they did not know the deceased personally. But this person gave up the most precious thing so that we could face a new day.

To live in war is to appreciate every day, because you have to fight for each new tomorrow, and sometimes you have to win it from death.

You can only wish to live in a war on an enemy. Because no matter how humane you are, it’s hard to forgive.

But war must be understood and seen to prevent it from continuing. That is why we are convinced that it is important for politicians and public activists from our partner countries to visit Ukraine and see what is really happening here.

On March 9, on Europe Day, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, visited Kyiv. During her final press conference with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there was another air raid that day and everyone had to go to shelter.

Two weeks before, a few hours in a shelter in Ukraine were also spent by German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. It is necessary to feel, at least for a few hours, what Ukrainians go through every day. We are grateful to Helmut Brandstätter and Beate Meinl-Reisinger for not being afraid, coming to us, and supporting Ukraine.

David with democratic values ​​against tyrannical Goliath

Ukraine is a European democratic country. We defended these aspirations during two revolutions (Orange in 2004 and Revolution of Dignity in 2014). And the tyrannical Russian regime did not forgive this. When the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine mobilized very quickly precisely because our values ​​are European, not Russian, and democratic, not authoritarian. However, we have been paying a huge price for choosing to be a European country for ten years.

We talk a lot about what will happen if Ukraine wins, but little about what will happen if Ukraine loses. It is already obvious to everyone that Putin will go further until he is stopped. Today’s Russia is the most vivid illustration of the fact that unpunished evil returns with greater and greater evil. The kremlin was not punished for the invasion of Georgia in 2008, and in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and occupied part of the Ukrainian East. Not having received a decent response then, on February 24, 2022, the aggressor launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And the question of where he will go next, if he is not stopped here, remains open.

From the first days of the great war, my team and I urged our partners to support Ukraine. But now our call is different: to change the approach from „give Ukraine everything to survive“ to „give Ukraine everything to win“.

Ukraine does not ask that other nations fight for our freedom and land. We do it, but we need weapons, in sufficient quantity and on time. We need air defense systems, fighters, equipment, long-range missiles, and ammunition.

In this war, Ukraine is compared to David, who opposes Goliath. Believe me, David with friends, technology, and weapons has a much better chance of defeating Goliath, who also has allies on the new „axis of evil“.

We will buy time for you

When you live in a war, time is perceived differently. It is one way when you are in the bomb shelter, and another when you are in the trenches. It lasts longer when you are waiting for news from a loved one and flies by in an instant when you are near. And time is completely different when you are outside of Ukraine.

We cannot turn off war like a bad movie, but we can prevent it from continuing because every morning in Vienna, every lunch in Rome, or every dinner in Budapest is paid for with the lives of Ukrainians. We will buy some time for Europe. We call for this time to be spent on strengthening security, arming, and realizing that dictatorial regimes cannot be expected to play by the rules.

Against the background of the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine, Poland began to strengthen its border areas. Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk emphasized that both Warsaw and Brussels should invest in security. I agree that protecting borders with totalitarian regimes is a great investment. Great, but not the best. The best thing now is to invest in the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

Because if you give Ukraine everything it needs to defeat Putin’s army here and now, you will never know what it is like to live in war and your children will not be afraid of thunder.

KIRA RUDIK is a Member of the Parliament of Ukraine and Leader of the Liberal Party „Golos“. She is Vice President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). Kira Rudik is an Op-Ed columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post and the Atlantic Council. In 2020, she was added to the sanctions list of Russia.