The long read: Everyone likes to support an underdog, especially if it’s winning. But it’s one thing to win a battle, it’s quite another to win the war. And Ukraine cannot win without international support.

Throughout history, Ukraine has been regarded as merely a buffer zone between Europe proper and the threat from the east. A stateless nation, it was denied a voice on international platforms for centuries. Despite successfully restoring its sovereignty in 1991, distrust persisted among states inclined to reserve decision-making seats exclusively for those deemed “great powers”, a designation that is frequently acquired through the imperialist oppression of other nations.

Ukraine experts have tried to shift the narrative to show the country as the gates of Europe, the crossroads of cultures, the bridge facilitating conversation among unlikely interlocutors in a multitude of tongues. For the outside world, however, Ukraine has remained a buffer zone lacking a clear identity – a territory that can be fought over, sacrificed or simply overlooked.

In 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine offered the world a new narrative about itself: it was no longer perceived as a nation of leather-jacketed riffraff from the edge of Europe, ruled by dodgy oligarchs with large wallets and poor taste. It was a new incarnation of brave David unafraid of monstrous Goliath. The narrative caught on – because who doesn’t like a good remake of an old story?

. . .

Ukraine was never given enough support to win. The assistance it received was vital to survive, crucial to keep going, necessary not to lose. It wasn’t sufficient to win. It turned out that one thing that was truly in short supply was courage. Not that of the people of Ukraine – they had no choice but to be brave. It was the leaders of what is known as the free world who needed to be braver to put an end to this war. A real end. Not a temporary ceasefire, which territorial concessions might bring, not a stalemate in a war of attrition. The sort of end that could only come with Ukraine’s victory, which would include the restoration of territorial integrity violated by Russia in 2014 when it occupied Crimea, the dispensation of justice for the numerous crimes committed by the Russian troops and their leadership, and the provision of the type of security guarantees that would make a new wave of Russian aggression impossible.

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