When I was growing up I was told on more than one occasion, “violence is not the solution.” That’s good advise because every fight risks long-term injury or setback, and most interpersonal conflicts can be worked out through discussion, counseling, negotiation, arbitration, or other methods.
It’s easy for people in modern, safe, democratic societies with functioning legal systems to grow up to think that fighting is simply an outdated choice for dealing with conflict. Why fight someone who crosses you when that responsibility can be outsourced to a a teacher, the bouncer, the police, the courts, friends on social media, or simply by leaving and going somewhere else? You pay good money in taxes for those options after all.
The Limits of Negotiation
But not all conflicts can be resolved peacefully. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 is an example of such a conflict that cannot be negotiated away. Putin, a murderous dictator who could care less if your kids are killed by Russian missiles, decided that invading Ukraine, killing anyone in his path, and subjugating the country under his rule was right course of action.
During the preceding months, Putin built up an army close to 200,000 strong in a ring around Ukraine. As he did, some Ukrainian citizens recognized the danger and prepared to fight, even if global leaders brushed off the risk under the assumption that Putin was just sabre-rattling to discourage Ukraine from joining NATO. But maintaining 200,000 troops in the field costs a significant amount of money, and it should have been obvious to anyone watching that you don’t line up 200,000 troops on the border simply to negotiate.
When the invasion began, well-meaning people around the world seemed surprised. They quickly offered their advice to Ukrainian people. Just leave the country and go somewhere else. Civilians should not fight. That’s the military’s job. Don’t fight the Russians. Putin isn’t that bad. You can go on with life even if Putin is your new president. You can’t beat Russian tanks with a rifle. Putin is threatening to use nukes, so just surrender.
As a parent, it is difficult for me to watch Ukrainian parents fleeing with their toddlers into underground bunkers, hiding in the frozen woods, or trying to drive hundreds of miles to the border but running out of gas in front of a column of Russian tanks.
The news seemed to suggest that the invasion and overthrow of the Ukrainian government was a done deal. No news outlet or writer that I could find would openly suggest that Ukrainian civilians picking up a club, a pistol, a rifle, or making Molotovs and killing Russian soldiers was even an option.
It would be nice for everyone to be able to pick up, leave the area, and go somewhere safe to resume life, leaving Putin to rule over the empty, somewhat radiated land you leave behind.
But then what? Dictators will never be satisfied. Today you flee Ukraine to Poland. Tomorrow Putin follows you to Poland. And then where?
At some point, you must decide what you will tolerate. Many Ukrainians cannot leave. Sick people and women in labor are stuck in hospitals. Elderly parents are too infirm to make the trip. Are 40 million Ukrainians going to find work elsewhere in Europe, or live homeless on the streets of whatever country they land in? Peoples’ entire lives are often tied inextricably to their home country.
When Violence is the Solution
When an invader threatens the lives of your family, quick and overwhelming violence is the proper response. Not a fistfight. Not a duel in the street. Not an evenly matched fight.
No, invaders forfeit any moral or ethical right to a “fair” fight, and the faster the fight is over the better. A bullet from a dark alleyway is the only thing an invader deserves.
Russian soldiers had the choice to refuse to deploy to Ukraine, even if it meant imprisonment or execution. They have the choice to simply drop their gear on the battlefield and disappear into the Ukrainian populace, or even defect and take up arms and fight with the Ukrainians. While I feel sad for the Russian soldiers being dealt such a bad hand in life, Russian soldiers who would rather kill innocent Ukrainians than defy Putin deserve no sympathy. Russians who carry a rifle and wear the uniform on Ukrainian soil are making a conscious choice, and there will be a steep price to pay for that choice.
This leaves Ukrainians with a clear moral imperative and choice in how to resolve the invasion – fight. This is not simply a responsibility of the military. 200,000 Russian invaders sounds frightening when the total Ukrainian military is of similar size. If the task of repelling Russians only falls on the military, this will be a prolonged battle the Ukrainian military would probably lose.
But it should be the Russian invaders who are afraid of 30 million adult Ukrainians with rifles behind every blade of grass. That’s an outnumbered ratio of 150:1. When you realize that for every group of 150 adult Ukrainians they only have to kill one Russian soldier to completely wipe out the invasion force, then the solution is clear. If the Ukrainian populace decides to fight, they will win. The faster they kill or drive out every last Russian invader, the faster they can get back to normal life.
Like it is the responsibility of American adults to protect their homes from criminals, it is the responsibility of Ukrainian adults to fight the Russians. It’s middle-aged fathers’ responsibility to take the risk of fighting off the shoulders of their military-aged sons and daughters. It’s grandparents’ responsibility to sit with a rifle just back from their 3rd story window so their grandchildren don’t have to. It’s childless Ukrainians’ responsibility to lurk in dark alleyways with their rifle and step out to remove the next Russian soldier so their neighbors’ children can grow up with their parents. It’s the responsibility of those with terminal illness to bear risk of sabotaging and disabling Russian vehicles, stealing their supplies, and fighting with the Russian from behind cover so their neighbors can live longer in their lives. If I were a Ukrainian with terminal cancer or an inoperable brain tumor, I know how I would like to spend my last days, and it isn’t sitting in a bunker waiting for the inevitable.
Support the Ukrainians
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. While we are fortunate that this fight is not in our backyard today, there is no guarantee it won’t be tomorrow. From the looks of the invasion on the second day, Ukrainians appear willing to fight. As a wealthy country that supports freedom worldwide, America owes whatever support we can give to the Ukrainians to assist them to victory.