PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK: Tyranny can’t win, we stand with Ukraine in the name of freedom
The photo on the right was taken on an empty station platform. There is little detail in it, but the caption by the photographer simply reads: ‘Ruslan Mishanin bids farewell to his nine-year-old daughter as the train with his family leaves for Poland, at the train station in Odesa, on Monday, April 4, 2022.’
It was taken 39 days after Vladimir Putin unleashed his full-scale invasion on Ukraine. As a father with daughters of a similar age, I can’t begin to imagine how Ruslan must have felt.
But despite the despair behind that image and all it represents, the courage of the individuals shines through.
The courage of the nine-year-old girl saying goodbye to her father and the courage of Ruslan ready to stay and fight while seeing his loved ones go.
And when we look back on the first year of Ukraine under full-scale attack, its freedom as a sovereign state being challenged, it won’t be defined by Russia’s actions. It will be defined by Ukraine’s courage.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak writes: ‘When we look back on the first year of Ukraine under full-scale attack, its freedom as a sovereign state being challenged, it won’t be defined by Russia’s actions. It will be defined by Ukraine’s courage’
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky who Mr Sunak says is being supported ‘from Canberra to Copenhagen’
Ukrainian soldiers fire anti-tank missile system of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Army on the frontline, in Donetsk Oblast
The photograph Mr Sunak writes about is captioned: ‘Ruslan Mishanin bids farewell to his nine-year-old daughter as the train with his family leaves for Poland, at the train station in Odesa’. It was taken 39 days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Putin made his gravest mistake when he decided to release his onslaught on Ukraine. He thought his weapons could defeat the country, wear down its people’s courage and kill their spirit. Every single hour since has proved why he was wrong.
He could have never envisioned the consequences of his miscalculation – the strengthening of Nato on his border, the training of tens of thousands of Ukraine’s troops by the world’s best defence forces, more military equipment than ever flowing into Ukraine. Closer friendships, long-term planning, and soon a stronger Ukraine on Russia’s doorstep.
Putin has become the architect of his own nightmare.
When I spoke to leaders at the Munich Security Conference yesterday, our focus wasn’t on defeating Putin – that’s a given. The focus was, and is, on strengthening Ukraine – for today and future generations.
In the coming weeks, Ukraine will need to dig deep, it’ll need to stretch Russia’s lines, starve supplies and strike deep into Putin’s battle formations. Ukraine will do that with the equipment that we and our allies are supplying. Tanks will arrive next month. Artillery is being sent in every day. Longer-range weapons will help redefine the equation, allowing Ukraine to defend itself pre-emptively.
It will be hard in the short term, but with our continued and unwavering support, it will win.
Russian President Vladmir Putin has ‘become the architect of his own nightmare’ writes Mr Sunak
Local residents use plastic sheeting to cover up a broken window in the two-storey residential building where they live, after it was partially destroyed as a result of shelling in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region earlier this week
Ukrainian servicemen fire by MSLR towards Russian positions during fighting at the frontline in Donetsk region
A Ukrainian national flag adorns an electrical post in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region
From Canberra to Copenhagen, the world is backing Ukraine. It’s a result Putin didn’t bargain for.
And on Friday, we will pay tribute to Ukraine, those defending it and those standing in solidarity with it, with a national moment of reflection at 11am.
Of course, we cannot kid ourselves about the impact of Putin’s actions on each and every one of us. Your energy prices, the cost of grain, the impact on the world’s most vulnerable countries. But that is why we must redouble our efforts, accelerate our lethal aid and bolster our support to help Ukraine secure a lasting peace.
It won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick, but it will be worth it.
Tyranny cannot – and will not – win. We must have courage and we must continue to stand with Ukraine in the name of freedom.
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