Thank you for writing this, Alex Pryrodny.

“Anyone who says things like "let's hope for peace for Ukraine" – I understand you might be saying it with best of intentions, but please understand that many Ukrainians will find this phrasing insensitive or even insulting. As the Supreme commander of the Ukrainian Army Valeriy Zaluzhny recently said: "We needed peace yesterday. Today we require victory." What does "peace" mean to a victim of genocide? Peace without justice for the thousands murdered civilians in Bucha, Mariupol, Odesa, Vinnytsia and other cities big and small? What about roughly 2 million Ukrainians forcibly relocated to remote regions of Russia including over 200 000 children – just leave them to their fate? What about several millions more still living in the roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory that's occupied that are already starting to be subjected to Russia's Orwellian program of "reeducation" and cultural erasure – forget them too? What about the murderers, torturers, rapists, propagandists and the evil masterminds who continue to give the orders – let them escape accountability and walk among us? Would you feel safe? The key point is that simply freezing the conflict, even if it was possible, will only give Russia time to regroup and renew their aggression – not only against Ukraine but the rest of the Western world as well. That's just the reality and anyone telling you otherwise is either a fool or on the Russian payroll – you only need to listen to the Russian leaders themselves or turn on their prime-time TV to understand they are not interested in any kinds of "off-ramps," in fact they are full of anger and grievance at the whole world and desire for revenge against anyone who dared to stand up to them. As it was during the WWII, at some point "peace" stops being an option; only victory – complete, decisive, ensuring that the aggressor will never again be able to terrorize peaceful people of the world – will stop the carnage. Simply put, without victory, there will be no peace.”