A moral case for supporting Ukraine

NOTE: This article was edited on 29/05/2025 to add a second quote attributed to Putin, as well as correct minor errors.

In the past two and a half decades, a certain mentality has developed in the Western left, with its origins in the (justifiable) anti-Afghan War and Iraq War protests in 2001-2004. Due to the infamous lies that led to the invasion and occupation of said countries, many leftists have become very apprehensive of the idea of the military support of other nations, under the belief that all conflicts involving capitalist, bourgeois states must be inter-imperialist conflicts.

This is, however, a fundamental misunderstanding of the idea of supporting peace and self-determination. The problem is that in some modern conflicts, there are imperialist forces, and there are anti-imperialist forces. It is irresponsible to claim to support anti-imperialist forces while also taking actions that would systematically cripple the effort of such groups. Being for ceasefires is not the problem. The problem is that a ceasefire would put the defending country in an extremely vulnerable position. No one would say that Israel should sign a ceasefire with Palestine without also leaving the occupied territories in the West Bank, yet somehow, this demand is made of Ukraine.

To sign a peace ceding over a quarter of your territory to an invading force simply because of the mistaken belief that it is only Zelensky and the Ukrainian government that want to continue the fight is a fundamental betrayal of the Ukrainian people. The Ukrainian people, much like the Palestinian people, do not wish to sign a false peace that would only allow the aggressor in their conflict to simply rebuild and try again, while at the same time ethnically cleansing the territory they occupy. Another false equivalence is made that the Russian and Ukrainian people are somehow equivalent, that both are forced to fight in the war. This is false. The Russian people are paid up to 4.000€/month to invade Ukraine, which many do willingly. It is not, as some claim, a war of forced conscripts, but rather, a war of a revanchist state that wishes to return to a false glory, one where Russia was the defender of the “Slavs”. Rather, then, as it is now, a prison of nations. One only needs to look at Putin’s comments on Lenin and Ukraine, and how, only 3 days before the invasion started, he stated:

“Actually, as I have already said, Soviet Ukraine is the result of the Bolsheviks’ policy and can be rightfully called Vladimir Lenin’s Ukraine.” He was its creator and architect. This is fully and comprehensively corroborated by archival documents, including Lenin’s harsh instructions regarding Donbass, which was actually shoved into Ukraine.”

Putin speaking about historical "mistakes" on the 22nd of February, 2022

He went on to say the following: "Do you want de-communisation? Well, this quite suits us. But you must not stop halfway. We are ready to show you what genuine de-communisation means for Ukraine".

This speech shows the true motivations for the start of the war and puts to rest any fake concern about the “oppression” of Russian speakers in Luhansk and Donetsk. The actions of the Russian military, such as the massacre of civilians in Bucha, the kidnapping of Ukrainian children, the deliberate targeting of civilian homes, hospitals, and civilians, and the colonisation of cities like Mariupol, reveal the true face of the Russian state. Some people say that Russia has nuclear weapons and that, therefore, we should avoid doing anything that directly antagonises it because of the threat of nuclear destruction. This is certainly an argument. Would the same argument be made of the Germans in the Second World War? No. Otherwise, any state with nuclear weapons, such as Israel, would be able to do as it pleases, and they would threaten the world with nuclear fire if they do not get their way.

Source: @Gerashchenko_en

This is why Ukraine and Palestine should be directly supported and aided in their struggle. When we, as leftists, abandon our ideals of anti-imperialism for total pacifism, we betray the very concept of peace and freedom. As Orwell said in his 1942 article Pacifism and the War, “Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other”. Again, one would never demand that Palestine give up the struggle to free the occupied territories because it would lead to more deaths, so it stands to reason that one should also not make this demand of Ukraine. It is, therefore, imperative to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in any way possible, by military force, if necessary, to throw off the Russian yoke.