Page 60 - Cormorant 2019

PAGE 58
Ukraine: In pursuit of freedom
Wg Cdr Helena Ramsden
UKRAINE IS A COUNTRY on a mission. Sat at the frontier between Europe and Russia, the nation has a long history of invasion and subjugation
to foreign rule in the midst of deadly struggles for global power throughout the ages. Yet in the 28 years since gaining
independence, the people of Ukraine have transformed its infrastructure, industry and state ideology, shaking off the past and pursuing ever closer integration with NATO and the EU. The sense of freedom, hope and patriotism was abundant on our visit to the capital city of Kyiv, the industrial heartland of Dnipro and the Naval base at Odessa. Each city was vibrant, welcoming and rich in history with monuments and architecture reaching back through the years of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire to the Viking foundation of Kievan Rus’ on the bank of the Dnieper River in the 9th Century AD.
“
However, the
atmosphere on the streets
concealed the troubles that Ukraine has faced in the past 5 years... ◆◆◆
However, the atmosphere on the streets concealed the troubles that Ukraine has faced in the past 5 years since Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its ongoing illegal intervention in Eastern Ukraine. Our hosts, which included the Deputy Defence Minister and the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for EU and Euro-Atlantic Integration amongst many others, were keen to impress upon us that the struggle to free the country from Russian interference requires both internal reforms and international cooperation amid a conflict which continues to count its cost in terms of Ukrainian lives.
We were humbled to hear accounts about the decimation of the Ukrainian Navy, experiences from the conflict in the East, and the effects at the