By John Spencer
Recently, Elon Musk posed a haunting question: “Why are
Ukrainians still dying?” He’s not alone in asking. A growing chorus of skeptics
argues that Ukraine has no hope of victory against Russia — so why keep
fighting?
The answer is simple, yet timeless: because freedom is worth
dying for.
I first visited Ukraine just weeks after Russian forces were
driven from the outskirts of Kyiv in 2022. The world had expected Ukraine to
collapse within days. Instead, civilians — many with no military training —
stood against one of the world’s most powerful armies and defended their
capital. I walked the devastated streets of Bucha, where I saw the cost:
civilians — elderly, women — tied up and executed. These weren’t soldiers. These
were people whose only crime was being Ukrainian.
What I saw wasn’t just war. It was a declaration.
Ukrainians had looked into the eyes of subjugation and said
“No.” No to tyranny. No to genocide. No to being pulled back under Russia’s
imperial shadow. They chose to fight — not because it was easy or winnable in
traditional terms, but because the alternative was unacceptable.
Some argue this war is only about four regions in eastern
Ukraine, home to many Russian speakers. But that’s a dangerous distortion. This
war didn’t start over disputed territory. It began with a full-scale invasion
aimed at seizing Kyiv and toppling the Ukrainian government. Russia didn’t just
send tanks to Donetsk. It sent them to the capital.
And let’s not forget: Russian-speaking Ukrainians are not
asking to be “liberated.” Many are fighting and dying for Ukraine — their
country — in uniform and out. The claim that this war is simply about
protecting Russian speakers ignores the fact that under the Soviet Union, the
Ukrainian language was outlawed, and Ukrainian identity actively suppressed.
Russia’s current campaign is a continuation of that erasure.
Since that first visit, I’ve returned to Ukraine many times.
From Kyiv to the front lines, I’ve seen the same thing: a nation of people —
teachers, farmers, students, grandparents — fighting to remain free. This is
not a divided country. It’s a united one.
And the threat to its survival is real. Thousands of
Ukrainian children — including babies — have been abducted from occupied
territories and sent to Russia. Many have been adopted by Russian families,
stripped of their names, their language, and their history. This is not
collateral damage. It’s a calculated effort to erase a nation.
History is full of moments when nations fought not because
they were sure of victory, but because they knew what was at stake. In 1776,
American revolutionaries faced the British Empire — the most powerful military
force in the world — and still pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor” in the Declaration of Independence. In 1940, with Europe falling
and Hitler’s armies approaching, Winston Churchill refused appeasement and
rallied Britain with the words, “We shall never surrender.”
Ukraine’s war is not just about Ukraine. It is a defining
test of whether the world still believes in the principles that underpin
international order: sovereignty, the rule of law, and the rejection of
conquest by force. If Ukraine falls, it won’t just lose its freedom. The idea
that small nations have a right to exist — even next to larger, more powerful
ones — will be dealt a devastating blow.
It is also personal. Ukraine is not just a neighbor of
Russia. It is older than Russia. Kyiv was a thriving center of culture and
trade when Moscow was still a forest outpost. The idea that Ukraine is somehow
not a “real” country is not only false — it is the ideological basis for
Russia’s war of destruction.
So yes, Ukraine continues to fight. Not because it is easy.
Not because it is guaranteed. But because surrender would mean ceasing to exist
as a free nation. And every day, Ukrainians are making the choice to stand and
resist.
To those who wonder why they are still fighting, I offer
another question: What would you do if it were your home, your children, your
freedom, your nation’s survival — on the line?
Because for Ukrainians, it is.
John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the
Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point. He served for 25 years as an infantry
soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. He is the author of the book Connected
Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connection in Modern War and co-author
of Understanding Urban Warfare
