r/ukraine • u/jesterboyd • 3h ago
Social Media Spread the message from a conservative Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Vorobey, unfortunately I can't share it to that one sub...
This post is for all my American friends who ask how we are holding up here.
If I were an American, I would be a Republican.
My wife and I have been married for 9 years. We were married in a church, we are raising two children, and we share right-center, conservative values. We believe in building, earning, and creating through hard work rather than redistributing what others have earned. So yes, I’m pretty sure I’d be a Republican.
But I am Ukrainian.
In 1994, when I was 12 years old, my country gave up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal: roughly 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads, up to 4,000 tactical nuclear weapons, 11 strategic bombers, 575 cruise missiles, nearly 200 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and vast amounts of heavy weaponry.
The United States and Russia convinced us to surrender all of it to Russia in exchange for security assurances signed by both nations. Ukraine kept its word.
Twenty years later, Russia invaded us for the first time, trampling on its guarantees. Meanwhile, the U.S. was in no rush to fully honor its commitments either.
But I am Ukrainian, and in 2014 I voluntarily went to the frontlines to defend my country, where I was wounded.
While recovering from my injuries, I started a small knife-manufacturing business because the Ukrainian Armed Forces didn't issue combat knives to soldiers. Later, after my father passed away, I inherited his farm - a plot of land with an apple orchard and a vineyard. I started making cider. I crafted my last batch in the fall of 2021, right before the full-scale invasion, and it was a cider that could easily rival the best Norman ciders in France.
I honestly couldn’t believe Russia would launch a full-scale war. But they did. From the very first hours, I took up arms again. My farm was occupied; later, I participated in liberating it. Today, that land is littered with landmines. I don’t even know if agriculture will ever be possible there again. My orchard is gone.
Yet despite everything, we hold the line. We have carried the fighting to the enemy's territory, striking key military targets with our drones. Of course, drone strikes can't fully compare to the devastation caused by Russia's ballistic missiles - but it’s a massive step forward, wouldn't you agree? When a nation without a major navy destroys the Russian Black Sea Fleet, that says something about our resolve.
Now, put yourself in my shoes. I’ve walked the path of this war from a simple volunteer assault troop to an officer in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I am a civilian forced to be a soldier to defend my homeland. My children have been growing up without their father for years.
And then I hear:
“Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much.”
Just the other day in Kharkiv region, a Russian missile killed a young mother and her baby in a stroller while they were walking in a park.
Oh, how many precious lives we could have saved - the lives of my countrymen, my friends, my relatives who perished under Russian strikes - if we hadn’t trusted those promises back in 1994 and kept our weapons.
I am a Christian with conservative values. My worldview is built on faith in Jesus Christ. My principles dictate keeping one's word. My actions mean daily hard work and protecting my family and country.
And I am convinced that those who pray in public, posture as conservatives, yet turn a blind eye to children being murdered are hypocrites desperately clinging to political power.
I am not an American, and I am not a Republican. But if I were, I would be ashamed to vote for politicians who betray their allies, abandon America's word, and compromise their own professed ideals.
But I am Ukrainian, it’s not my place to tell you how to vote. But I ask you: vote for leaders who possess the moral clarity and strength to GIVE US THE DAMN WEAPONS TO DEFEND OURSELVES!
We are not fighting for glory or someone’s political ambitions.
We are fighting for the sheer survival of the Ukrainian nation.
Slava Ukraini!
