“I understand that most Western people have busy lives and don’t have time to think about all this”, writes Lera Burlakova, Democracy Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) who served in combat from 2014-2017 after joining the Ukrainian army following the Russia invasion of Crimea.

“You don’t have to. Give us the guns and we will keep fighting. The mess and the blood will be in Ukraine, not in your homeland. But if you abandon us, this traveling circus will come to your homes, one way or another.”