Putin can’t bomb hope out of humanity

For Ukraine, life has ceased, and time has stopped making sense. There are no weekends, there are no days or nights. The shock awakens you in the middle of the night, and sirens are a grim reminder that we’re still living through the nightmare of war. You count the seconds before the trembling of an explosion tells you it’s still far away and you’re ashamed of feeling lucky you’ll survive tonight… while a soldier, a mother, or a child perhaps doesn’t.

But still, I’m thankful.

The worldwide support Ukrainians have received so far is overwhelming. Amid unprecedented inflation and skyrocketing oil prices, many countries are risking economic hardship to raise the cost of war for the warmonger in Russia’s Kremlin. For many long hours, thousands of people around the world have abandoned the comfort of their ordinary lives to protest on the streets and condemn the war, while governments have embraced our women and children as refugees.

The Ukrainian David continues to face off against the Russian Goliath and every day we fight is another day for the world to reflect on the lessons of World War II.

Leaders who didn’t want to antagonize the man in Kremlin have watched him bomb Syria, invade Crimea, conquer Georgia, the crackdown in Kazakhstan and now shell Ukraine and slaughter its people. The same leaders are now failing Ukrainians by refusing to establish a no-fly zone to protect innocent civilians.

Europe must help Ukraine to help Europe because we’re fighting a dictator who wants to blow up the EU and bring the democratic world to its knees. Why do some people think the danger is still far away? Isn’t this the same logic that surprised us when the pandemic hit home? Does the world need another Pearl Harbor moment or 9/11 to wake up?

I never thought my country would become a nation of refugees. It seemed so far-fetched… and two months ago, I was proven wrong. I don’t want you to awake being wrong.

When I left Silicon Valley for Kyiv, I knew that I’m leaving many good things behind. I never dreamt of a day when my backyard would become a battlefield. But in the last two months in my own homeland, I’ve learned things that I would have never learned at Stanford University.

I learned that if one man can cause so much fear and suffering for millions of human beings, another man can inspire resistance, bravery and compassion for millions of others. 

Many believed Ukraine would fall in days, but our people and President have admirably risen to the occasion, to not only inspire an entire nation but has also educated the world about good leadership. Perhaps, he thought it was his job to keep our people’s spirits high, by making them laugh in the past. And now it’s like he’s phrasing words that will last for an eternity.

In peacetime, I had been a critic of his policies. But today, we’re brothers and sisters in arms. It’s a shame the world has learned about Ukraine and Vladimir Zelenskyy like this. But it taught me a great deal about humans and how a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover.

I also learned that all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the smallest spark of light. While nukes and tanks might conquer lands and soil, they will never win over hearts and minds.

I’ve also started to care for other parts of the world, sensing that “tyranny somewhere is a threat to freedom everywhere”.

On several occasions, I have used the safety of the unshelled hours to speak at meetings of the Iranian diaspora. The first time it was a gathering that was held in Berlin to honor International Women’s Day. Dozens of other women leaders, lawmakers, intellectuals, and activists discussed how we can make a better, safer and more peaceful world. It was an inspiring and emotional meeting that reminded us about the power of democracy and of the collective. By watching how one man can ruin the lives of millions, I now believe the message of that meeting was more than telling.

It was surreal to talk to a political movement that is led by a woman, Maryam Rajavi. For more than four decades, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has been fighting a misogynist dictatorship in Iran, a staunch ally of the Russian dictator. While our struggle to liberate our country has been going on for nine years, theirs has taken more than 43 years and counting.

The dictator in Kremlin wants to bomb our safety, our way of life, our dreams, and our hopes. Watching my country being shelled and destroyed is heart-wrenching. He’s turning everything into ashes and rubble. He wanted to build the past, but now he’s busy ruining his nation’s future.

I still have hope. I hope that fear and agony are not the only things our children will learn from this crisis. I hope that they can look back and feel proud of the way their brave compatriots reshaped modern history. I hope for a future devoid of guns and murder.

Rest assured, we will build a new Ukraine and I am certain we will be free again. And we will build the most beautiful country on the planet. With fields of sunflowers, we will plant trees to help the planet breathe and we will produce wheat for the world to eat.

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