Bohdan Cherniawski: The face of surrender

by Bohdan Cherniawski, a chief operations officer for the Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation.

Source: Kyiv Post

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a troubling pattern has emerged in Western public discourse. Some voices, across the political spectrum, aren’t waving Russian flags, but they’re also not standing with Ukraine. Instead, they are dressing up moral evasion in polished, academic language that subtly undermines Ukraine’s right to exist and defend itself. Let’s be clear: this is not neutrality. It is surrender dressed up as complexity. And it is dangerous.

These arguments often appear reasonable on the surface. They suggest that Russia was provoked by NATO. They frame Ukraine as too corrupt or chaotic to support. They downplay Ukrainian resistance by calling it a proxy war. Or they advocate “peace” without demanding accountability or withdrawal. These positions are not harmless debates. They are rhetorical cover for aggression.

Take the claim that NATO provoked Russia. NATO expansion is a legitimate topic of discussion. But using it to justify war erases Moscow’s responsibility and denies Ukraine its sovereignty. Ukraine, like any other nation, has the right to choose its alliances. Suggesting otherwise validates imperial thinking.

Another claim is that Ukraine is too corrupt to be worth defending. Yes, corruption exists in Ukraine, just as it does in countries far more stable and secure. But no amount of corruption justifies invasion. And under the pressure of war, Ukraine has enacted serious reforms and continues to fight not just for survival, but for democracy. That is not a reason to abandon the country, it is a reason to support it.

Some argue that Ukraine is merely a pawn in a great power standoff between the US and Russia. That is a cynical oversimplification. Ukrainians chose to resist. They chose democracy. Dismissing their sacrifice as someone else’s strategy strips them of agency and dignity.

Then there is the push for an immediate ceasefire, framed as the path to peace. But peace without justice is not peace. It is appeasement. A ceasefire that locks in occupation and ignores war crimes is not a solution; it is complicity. Ukrainians are not prolonging war for its own sake. They are fighting because they know what happens if they stop.

These narratives do not only come from fringe voices. They show up in think tanks, editorials, and viral threads. Sometimes they come from far-right figures who admire strongmen and resent democratic values. Sometimes they come from far-left thinkers who oppose anything associated with US foreign policy. And sometimes they come from centrists and realists who would rather prioritize stability than principle.

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