History shows why we must support Ukraine

I recently had the honor of partaking in a humanitarian mission to Ukraine organized by the Polish Solidarity trade union. 

As the Senate Steering Committee’s general counsel, my history with Solidarity dates back to the Cold War era, when Poland became the initial domino leading to the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. This remarkable transformation also spelled the end for Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and subsequently brought down the Soviet Union.

The significance of these events was profound, resulting in the formation of approximately one-eighth of the world’s nations.

Poland has remained a key player in countering the Russian Republic’s attempts to restore its former empire. The impact of Russian aggression on Ukraine has been both tragic and tangible. I witnessed its aftermath at an orphanage in Lviv, where dozens of children had been forced to seek shelter in a concrete basement.

A subsequent visit to a hospital revealed the harsh reality of war, with wounded soldiers and amputees occupying the wards. A large cemetery on the outskirts of Lviv, roughly the size of a mall parking lot, serves as a final resting place for Ukrainian soldiers who lost their lives over the past year. 

The youthfulness of these soldiers whose lives Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces brutally ended is both striking and heartbreaking. Russia’s long history of oppression in Ukraine includes attempts to erase Ukrainian language, customs and religion, as well as Joseph Stalin’s horrific manufactured famine, which resulted in the deaths of as many as 8 million Ukrainians.

Russia’s claim that “enforced Russification” — its longtime policy of enforcing Russian culture on the former Russian Empire’s ethnic minorities —  justifies its invasion and annexation of Ukraine is audacious and morally indefensible.

If there are doubts about whether Ukraine’s survival is of strategic interest to the U.S., we must recall some Cold War history. The prospect of a unified Soviet Union and Communist China could thrust the world into a bipolar contest for global supremacy.

Putin’s threat of instigating World War III could convince some to give up helping Ukraine. However, if such threats emanate today from a state that accounts for just 2 percent of global gross domestic product, the stakes will be dramatically higher if it evolves into a superpower again.

There’s also the assertion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is merely a second-rate actor. I’ll let the irony of that statement speak for itself.

Additionally, the claim that Ukraine is plagued by corruption, while not unfounded, is also misleading. Zelensky took office on a platform of addressing this issue and took action to do so. Events have understandably interrupted that effort, but even this invites the question: Is Washington making similar efforts to combat its own internal of corruption?

If Ukraine succumbs, then I fear for the fate of Taiwan, which could succumb to a Chinese invasion within six months.

If America fails to counter Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, an intervention that could be managed at relatively minimal cost and risk, it may have to confront him under far more costly and risky circumstances, with American lives on the line.

Having witnessed significant historical events firsthand, including Poland’s state of emergency in 1988, the Hungarian resistance and the riots in Timisoara that led to Ceausescu’s execution, I have learned an invaluable lesson: Countless individuals have sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Eastern Europe. It would be tragic and dishonorable to let the legacy of all those people slip away due to apathy or fear.

Michael E. Hammond served as the counsel for the Senate Steering Committee for more than two decades. He now serves as the general counsel for Gun Owners of America.