Secured Ukrainian skies will force Russia to end the war

by Eugene Czolij
former president of the Ukrainian World Congress
president of the Ukraine-2050 nongovernmental organization

Source: KyivPost

Read this story in French 

Read this story in German

Heavily outnumbered and outgunned, Ukrainians have withstood Russia’s invasion for more than a decade, including more than three years of Russia’s all-out genocidal war against Ukraine.

During this epic struggle, Ukrainians have been willfully killed, seriously injured, tortured, raped and terrorized; they have been subjected to inhumane treatment, violence, toxic substances, frigid cold, darkness and nightly air raid sirens; their children have been kidnapped and forcibly deported to Russia; and many of their churches, hospitals, schools, cultural sites and residential buildings have been destroyed.

Nonetheless, Ukrainians continue to heroically fight both for themselves and for us.

The fact that Ukraine is indeed securing the Euro-Atlantic region was underscored on June 25, 2025, in The Hague Summit Declaration by NATO Heads of State, who emphasized “the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security” and recognized that Ukraine’s “security contributes to ours.”

It is also worthwhile to remember that Ukraine has done everything requested by US President Donald Trump to stop Russia’s genocidal war, including the signing of a rare minerals agreement and consenting to an unconditional ceasefire to negotiate a just peace agreement.

Meanwhile, sensing mixed signals regarding US military aid to Ukraine and benefiting from firm and unwavering support from China, Iran, and North Korea, Russia has not only defiantly rejected the American president’s call for an unconditional ceasefire, but it has considerably intensified its devastating daily air attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population and infrastructure.

Indeed, after Trump voiced that he was “disappointed” that Vladimir Putin was not ready to end Russia’s war against Ukraine following their telephone conversation on July 3, 2025, Russia proved that point in a piercing way by firing a record 539 drones and 11 missiles at Ukraine on American Independence Day.

That record was surpassed on July 9, 2025 with an onslaught of 741 airborne weapons, including missiles and drones, launched by Russia against Ukraine the day after Trump expressed, once again, his frustration with the Russian leader, by stating in his inimitable way: “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin.”

According to the Associated Press, in June 2025, Russia attacked Ukraine with 5,438 drones, which is both a new monthly record and a 500% increase of attacks compared to earlier this year, as per the Institute for the Study of War.

More importantly, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported that “June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured” and the head of HRMMU, Danielle Bell, stated that: “Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years” and that “Children spend many nights not tucked in bed, but sheltering in corridors, basements, and bathrooms, covering their ears from the sounds of sirens and explosions. These experiences bring lasting scars.”

Sadly, these dramatically increased deadly air attacks do not receive a commensurate and impactful response from the West and seldom even make news headlines around the world.

However, in an interview published on July 5, 2025 by The New York Times, NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said “There’s an increasing realization, and let’s not be naïve about this: If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this, and I need you to keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory.’ That is most likely the way this will progress.”

Moreover, even though most NATO Heads of State understand that if Russia were to succeed in overtaking Ukraine, then the Kremlin would continue beyond Ukraine’s borders, which would trigger the Third World War, NATO member countries still hesitate to take timely and decisive steps to help Ukraine stop Russia’s genocidal war.

Even worse, the BBC recently unmasked a very “crude” reality, namely that, between February 2022 and February 2025, NATO member countries have allocated $236 billion US in aid to Ukraine, while feeding Russia’s war efforts by providing Russia $335 billion US in fossil fuel revenue during the same period.

Ukraine is in peril, and the West does not seem to fully grasp the urgency of the crisis it will be faced with if Russia is permitted to overwhelm Ukraine.

Has the Doomsday Clock struck midnight?

Fortunately, it has not. However, it is not time to hit the “snooze” button.

With effective support from the West, Ukraine can stop Russia and substantially reduce its threat to Euro-Atlantic security. This was amply demonstrated by Ukraine’s amazing Operation Spiderweb on June 1, 2025, which simultaneously destroyed a third of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at four Russian airbases and then successfully evacuated the Ukrainian military personnel that executed these attacks.

For Ukraine to succeed and the West to be spared the horrors of Russian attacks, NATO member countries must provide Ukraine, without delay, the necessary defensive and offensive weapons to enable it to effectively shield its airspace and render useless Russia’s illegal daily air attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civil infrastructure.

Russia visibly does not want peace. It wants to be an empire. Therefore, the West must pressure Russia toward peace.

Securing the skies above Ukraine will force Russia to end the war since Russia has demonstrated, time and again, a flagrant inability to succeed against Ukraine’s Armed Forces without resorting to acts of genocide, mostly via the skies.

Undeniably, these announcements are significant. However, the Moscow Stock Exchange was up 2.7%, after it opened the very next day, because investors in Russia put more emphasis on the lengthy 50-day delay, which they interpreted as a grace period that could be extended (or President Trump’s threat canceled in the meantime) rather than on the severity of the announced tariffs.

Thus, Ukraine’s civilian population will continue to be subjected to hell as Russia tries to position itself in the most advantageous way prior to any eventual peace talks.

This is why NATO and its member countries must work very diligently to properly arm Ukraine, help it secure its skies, and minimize further damage against Ukraine’s civilian population and infrastructure. Anything short of this will make future peace negotiations with Russia substantially more difficult since the Kremlin will not treat NATO or its member countries seriously, nor will Russia react to non-assertive calls to stop its genocidal war against Ukraine.

The clock is clearly ticking, and NATO member countries, including the US, must act now, using all means at their disposal, rather than half measures, to successfully pressure Russia into an unconditional ceasefire and then to a just and lasting peace agreement. This will undoubtedly be in the best interests of all NATO member countries.

Сover: Suspilne