Letter from the road to Ukraine

Mick Antoniw MS

As you read this article I will be on my way to Ukraine , on the 15th delivery of vehicles and supplies on behalf of the Senedd Cross Party Group Friends of Ukraine.

This will bring the number of vehicles delivered to 55 and the medical and winter supplies to well over a million pounds.

We are just one of the many groups in Wales delivering aid as we approach the fifth year of the war since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. One group UK4UA has completed over 60 deliveries and over 500 vehicles and many other groups some formed by Ukrainian refugees but many by ordinary Welsh citizens deliver aid, vehicles and ambulances.

Our group has grown over the past four years and become truly international; with my colleagues Alun Davies MS , Wayne Thomas from the National Union of Mineworkers who have provided consistent support and solidarity, Carwyn Donovan, ex miner and now Bectu trade union official and many others but including supporters from the USA.

Peter Clancy is on his third delivery with us. He is angry at Trumps collusion with Putin. He and colleagues fly from America to drive to Ukraine.

As we head to Kyiv and Eastern Ukraine we face the most hazardous conditions yet, daily drone and missile attacks and freezing conditions. We hope it will have warmed up by the time we get there from minus 20 to a mere minus 7.

Attacks on the energy infrastructure are a deliberate tactic to try and terrorise the population.

It won’t work. Ukrainians have adapted but many will die. Many , particularly the elderly and infirm may freeze to death because of what they call a “Kholodomor” death from cold, a play on Russia’s last attempt at genocide in Ukraine, the “Holodomor” death from hunger , when some 4 million starved to death as a consequence of the forced collectivisation and subsequent repression.

We have a large number of four by four pick up vehicles, all re-tyred for the conditions. We will bring Eco Flo batteries to provide power and a considerable quantity of hospital medical aid and specialist medical kit for front line defenders.

Many of the frontline Units we help are miners from Eastern Ukraine, mainly Russian speaking but determined to defend their country and democracy.

The links between Wales and Ukraine are strong, from Hughesovka, later Donetsk, established with the skills of John Hughes and Welsh miners and engineers to Gareth Jones the Welsh journalist from Barry, who exposed the Holodomor to the world.

The Ukrainian miners union ensure the supplies get to the units where they are needed. They are glad of the supplies but even more so of the fact that we are there on the ground. This visible international solidarity reassures them that they are not alone.

As one veteran miner told us “ We supported you during your strike of 1984. We helped you when you needed it and we are glad that you have not forgotten us now we need your help”

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council which has a similar industrial history to parts of the Donbas is now looking to twin with the mining City of Pavlohrad, another example of Welsh internationalism.

‘Re-educated’

In the occupied areas tens of thousands of children have been abducted and are being “re-educated” . Museums and libraries with Ukrainian books and cultural items are destroyed replicating the actions of Stalin in the 1930’s when he introduced the forced Russification of Eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian churches are now banned and Ukrainian language is prohibited in schools. Speaking Ukrainian is a dangerous and political act in occupied areas. Free trade unions have been banned and repressed. Trade unionists have been killed.

The scale of war crimes, the torture , rape, abductions and filtration , (concentration camps) are such that it now barely warrants a mention. It has almost become normalised.

Russian is desperate. Their great hope is that Trump will deliver a deal which gives them all they want , for now. However, no deal is in sight. Ukraine will not concede territory , particularly unoccupied territory.

Trump wants a deal with Russia to enable him to exploit Ukrainian minerals whilst Putin wants to eradicate Ukraine as a nation. Two gangsters trying to carve up their territory.

It won’t happen. An estimated one and a quarter million Russians have been killed or seriously wounded in the attempts to seize the Donbas. The Russian economy is cracking and as dissatisfaction grows so state repression increases.

Russia is now a new fascist country intent on attempting to recreate the Russian empire. Putin expected Ukraine to to fall within weeks yet as we approach the fifth year of the war it is Ukraine now on the offensive , step by step regaining occupied territory.

Trump has abandoned Ukraine. Europe must now step up to defend its border. Were Ukraine to fall then the next targets would be the Baltic states, Finland, Moldova and parts of Poland.

There are those in the West who oppose supporting Ukraine with weapons. That is a policy of capitulation. We have been there before trying to appease Hitler. It doesn’t and cannot work. You cannot appease bullies or fascists. It is only by ensuring Ukraine can defend itself that peace can be achieved.

Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world ,on the back of guarantees to defend and protect its sovereignty. Those commitments must now be honoured .

As drones and missiles rain down on Ukraine daily, Europe must commit to protecting the skies and to providing Ukraine with the air defences it needs. Ukraine is the front line of European democracy .

When we return to Wales we will recommence fundraising for the next delivery.

Wales through its nation of sanctuary policy has provided a safe refuge for many fleeing war and oppression, from the Basques and Jews in the past fleeing fascism ,including more recently Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans , Kurds and since the invasion some 8,300 Ukrainians, mainly women and children.

The Ukrainian flag flies proudly outside the Senedd alongside the Welsh dragon. We can be proud of our country and the people of Wales. Thank you Wales. Diolch yn fawr !

Mick is the Labour Senedd Member for Pontypridd