Victor Pinchuk Foundation and YES held discussion “The Future Is Ours. But Not For Free” during the YES meeting in Kyiv “Two Years — Stay in the Fight”

On 24 February 2024, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Yalta European Strategy (YES) held a discussion “The Future Is Ours. But Not For Free” on the occasion of the YES meeting in Kyiv “Two Years — Stay in the Fight” dedicated to the second anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Speakers discussed Ukraine’s fight for life, freedom and rules-based order as well as how to aid Ukrainians victory in this fight for us all.

Among the participants of the discussion were Oleksandr Batalov, medic, Armed Forces of Ukraine; Tata Kepler, volunteer, Founder of “Ptahy” project; Lyudmyla Meniuk, war veteran, volunteer, Human rights organization of soldier's mothers 'Malva'; Ivan Pepelyashko, military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Iryna Soloshenko, volunteer, Head of evacuation stage in “Kolo” foundation. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995–2005), Chairman of the Board of YES moderated the panel.

Tata Kepler shared the stories she has encountered as a volunteer and also described what victory means to her: “Firstly, victory for me is a process. Secondly, unfortunately, there will be no victory for me without the people who have died. However, it will help me to reflect, to be silent, and to mourn over all the losses endured by my comrades-in-arms and myself over the last two years, and indeed, over the last decade.”

“Today, everyone is thanking the whole world for their support and weapons. And I want to thank the whole world for your people who literally died for me, who decided to come and fight for us," she added, listing the names of foreigners who died in Ukraine.

The final speech was delivered by Lyudmyla Meniuk, who once again stressed the importance of arming Ukraine promptly: "Today we talked a lot about the war and the future. We gave each other hope, we talked about plans. There are currently two scenarios, one of which I do not like. This is the scenario where we are gone and Russia comes to Europe, and then European and American mothers will be crying. I want the second scenario to come true: we are courageous and strong, we have learned to fight well, we know how to use weapons correctly, and we have mastered the tactics and strategies of combat. Convey to your people your brave decision in order to save the lives of your citizens. Provide us with weapons and missiles as soon as possible, and we will achieve the victory.”

Photos are available here

Video is available at the Victor Pinchuk Foundation YouTube channel