Many Ukrainian soldiers on the front line are exhausted and are pinning their hopes for a quick end to the war on President Trump. They are disappointed with Europe and do not hide it, writes ARD.
Many soldiers on the front line in eastern Ukraine are disappointed and angry. "The intensity of the fighting here is unlike anything the West knows", says Mykhailo, part of a brigade stationed in Kramatorsk. According to the Ukrainian, what Western veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan advise Ukrainians on the front can no longer be taken seriously. "Back then, you had all the weapons in the world and you were fighting some idiots with machine guns. Unfortunately, the idiots with the machine guns here are us”, the angry Ukrainian soldier tells ARD.
Disappointment with Europe
Mykhailo is part of a whole generation of democracy activists in Ukraine who protested against corruption and Russian influence on the Maidan, and then spent many years at war with Moscow. Now they are disappointed with Europe and Kiev's Western allies. The young man asks himself what kind of democracy can we even talk about in a situation where the law of the strongest applies and international law is not respected.
Today, Mykhailo hopes that the new US President Donald Trump will end the war in his country, ARD tells. Not because he has a very good plan, but because, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden, he is unpredictable. Mykhailo himself cannot believe that he feels this way. "When you see what is happening in the 21st century… Putin just stands by and applauds”.
Europe cannot secure peace on its own
Although the Ukrainian government has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to negotiate, it is unclear how it will manage to secure a ceasefire. The new American government believes that this is Europe's responsibility, ARD recalls. However, security expert Claudia Mayor believes that without the Americans, Europe will not be able to secure peace in Ukraine on its own.
The 29-year-old commander of a drone brigade, Pavlo, does not believe that the upcoming negotiations will be successful. He was wounded many times in the war - he lost hearing in one ear, and his legs are covered in shrapnel scars. ”We must defend what is still ours,” Pavlo tells ARD. He also expects change to come from Washington and is counting on Donald Trump's promises. "If there is a way to stop the war, we should do it", says the young man. Ukrainian soldiers are already in desperate need of a rest after three years of grueling war. New recruits, who often did not want to come to the front and are not well-prepared, are of little help to the soldiers who have been there from the beginning.
Fear of the post-war period
The outlook for Ukraine is not good. The country is militarily dependent on the West, and criticism of the military leadership is increasing. Ukraine currently has the highest mortality rate and the lowest birth rate in the world. The country will be weakened anyway when the time comes to negotiate with the aggressor Russia. This is one of the reasons why President Zelensky is demanding security guarantees from the West.
Even if a solution is found now, the war will start again at some point, Rostislav is convinced. The soldier says that "as long as Russia exists, this conflict will exist". He is very worried about the post-war reality in his homeland. Many soldiers are extremely traumatized. Their families have learned to cope without them in the three years of war. Rostislav doubts that the state will make enough efforts to reintegrate the thousands of soldiers back into society, writes ARD. "And who will fight when the war starts again in a few years", he asks.
Many hope that Trump will be able to achieve at least a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine within this year. But the men and women who are on the front lines in Ukraine say they no longer expect anything from Europe. The European Union is "too weak", many of them say. But the worst thing, according to Ukrainian soldiers, is that it is "too timid".