Burke: Slava Ukraini! Heroiam Slava!

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 12, 2026

“Glory to Ukraine!” – the battle-cry the Ukrainian people.

“Glory to the heroes!” the cry of consolation and defiance from those who have sacrificed in the fight to stay free.

It’s been over four years since Valdimir Putin’s army invaded the Ukraine.

And the war, predicted to last only weeks, pitted Russia’s much-ballyhooed 1.3 million-man force against the Ukraine’s 600,000 troops; and was supposed to overwhelm Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy’s military as easily as Trump thought the US military would pound Iran into submission.

But it didn’t happen the way Putin planned; just as Joesph Stalin’s plans for his conquest of Finland failed as one million Russian troops were fought to a standstill by Finland’s 130,000-man army in the Winter War of 1939.

So what motivates a people to fight as the Ukrainians (and the Finns) have fought?

Love of homeland. Love of democracy. Love of freedom. And the willingness to sacrifice everything including husbands, wives, sons and daughters to preserve their country.

Plus, the Ukrainians remember life under Russian rule. For 69 years they endured the tyranny of the Russian regime and suffered horrors akin to the Holocaust during the “Holodomor,” a 1932 man-made famine that killed an estimated 3.5 to 5 million Ukrainians as Stalin, with calculated malice, weaponized starvation to suppress Ukrainian national identity.

So why are the Ukrainians not losing?

Because their soldiers are smart, battle hardened, and innovative.

Because Western financial aid, weapons, munitions, satellite data, and intelligence has freely flowed to the Ukrainians.

Because they’ve got drones, lots of drones, and know how to use them, striking deep into Putin’s domain.

And because they love their country past the point of death.

So then why aren’t the Ukrainians winning?

Because Putin wants the Ukraine so badly (for territory, resources, and personal wealth and power) that no cost is too high for his people to pay — whether in the lives of Russian soldiers, the economic vitality of the country, or Russia’s standing in the community of nations.

Russian losses have been horrific both in terms of equipment and men with estimates pegging eight Russians dead or wounded for every Ukrainian casualty.

(In the Finnish/Soviet 1939 Winter War Russia suffered the same fate. No one less than Nikita Kruschev said over a million Soviet soldiers died in that war to Finnish losses of 85,000 dead.)

So where has the United States been since February 4, 2022 when Putin attacked?

Well, during the Biden administration we were the Ukraine’s most stalwart ally, committing over $120 billion to their struggle.

We sent munitions, missiles, and technical and humanitarian aid and imposed drastic sanctions on Russia, looking to cripple their economy.

It helped. Greatly.

But it didn’t end the war as Putin threw more and more men into the fray regardless of the cost.

Then came Trump.

During his 2024 Presidential campaign, he promised, over and over and over again, he would “end the war in 24 hours” although he praised Putin as a “genius” for invading Ukraine.

Well, he’s been president over 570 days and there’s no end in sight. The war continues.

And during that time, Trump has displayed his trademark equivocation – flip-flopping from excoriating Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval to calling him “courageous;” but then halting new funding requests, “demanding” more from European countries, and instructing the Pentagon pause specific weapon deliveries.

And to add insult to injury, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are leading BOTH efforts to end Trump’s Iran war-of-choice and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (Both! Are you kidding me?)

Oh, and their qualifications for those jobs – essentially none.

But they know how to make deals — with Kushner seeking money from mid-East governments (privately negotiating a $5 billion “investment” to his hedge fund) while proposing a private redevelopment of Gaza for some wealthy buddies; and Witkoff redeveloping a NYC hotel with Pakistan and soliciting funds for the mega crypto business owned by his son and Trump’s offspring.

And all the time these two dilettantes shuttle uselessly between the world’s lux-est hotels, Putin is bombing critical life-sustaining infrastructure, schools, apartments and hospitals to break the will of the people of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Odesa and Dnipro.

So what is the outlook for peace?

Grim.

Putin continues to demand that Ukraine give up entire regions of the country, abandon the idea of joining NATO, and limit its military capabilities, all the while saying NYET to any type of ceasefire.

Ukraine replies, “No way,” to Russia’s terms and insists on strong international security guarantees and sovereign integrity.

The US Senate, on August 7th, passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by a bipartisan 86–11 vote, authorizing heavy economic pressure against Russia (and Putin personally) to force Russia to negotiate in good faith.

However, it must pass the House, and the House is out of session until September. And, despite Trump’s written commitment of support, the bill faces a tough battle with many House factions objecting to some of its prime points.

So the fighting will continue, Trump will continue his flip-flopping ineffectiveness, and more will die.

It’s hard to believe that war in the Ukraine continues – that the Crimean War (1853 – 1856 with Russia vs Ottomans, France, and England. Russia lost); the Ukrainian War of Independence (1912 – 1919. The Russian communists won); WWII; and Russia’s 2014 conquest of the Crimea wasn’t enough.

Now this.

So what can we do?

Vote, gentle reader, vote in November to turn out Trump’s toadies and return Democratic sanity to the House and Senate and help the Ukrainians keep their freedom.

Slava Ukraini!

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.