United for Ukraine

In most episodes, we cover several issues. But today, we're going to unite for Ukraine. Who started the war in Ukraine: Russia or Ukraine? Will the U.S. remain a steadfast ally for Ukraine? How are European leaders and historians responding to Putin's allegations about Ukraine needing to be "denazified?" We're covering All Things Ukraine today in under 10 minutes. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome
• 0:27 Yesterday marked three years of the war in Ukraine; why did Russia invade their neighbor?
• 2:06 Disinformation about the war in Ukraine has existed since at least the 2014 annexation of Crimea
• 3:02 The U.S. position on Ukraine has changed under the Trump administration
• 5:48 Let's remember the people, on both sides, who have been impacted by this war
• 7:06 Get involved: two organizations helping Ukrainians in need of food and medical care
• 8:20 Until next time!

Transcript

Welcome to The Friday Brief, a news podcast by Girl Friday. I’m Phoenix Ricks, the CEO of Girl Friday and your host. This is your brief for February 25, 2025. Normally, I focus on several issues in one episode. But today, we’re going to unite for Ukraine. Yesterday marked three years of the war in Ukraine. 

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. had warned Ukraine that this was imminent. At the time, Russia claimed it had a moral imperative to “denazify” Ukraine and stop the spread of what they called Russophobia - a fear of Russia. World leaders condemned the invasion then and continue to do so today. I think even more importantly, historians who specialize in studying fascism, Nazis, and the Holocaust also condemned Russia’s actions and characterization of Ukraine. 

For example, in March of 2022, NPR reported that the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, among others, said Putin "misrepresented and misappropriated Holocaust history." Historians worked together to publish an open letter condemning the invasion. You can find that 2022 letter in the Jewish Journal. They don’t gloss over the reality that Ukraine, like most nations, including the U.S., has some right-wing extremist groups. That, however, in their expert opinion, did not constitute the need for a full-scale invasion or justify any comparisons to the Holocaust. The disinformation that continues today is disheartening because Ukraine’s success truly depends on support from allied nations. 

I know this to be true from my own work. Many years ago, I worked on the State Department’s United for Ukraine campaign. That was back in 2014 when the U.S.’s biggest fear was Russia taking over a part of Ukraine called Crimea. Russia did annex Crimea, and they still occupy it to this day. The part of the United for Ukraine campaign I worked on was designed to counter propaganda. At this point, I’ve now spent a little more than a decade at work studying Ukraine and Russia’s relationship and analyzing Russia’s next potential steps. 

Even knowing what was likely to happen, it still felt shocking to see the rapid change in U.S. policy. The BBC reported that last week, Donald Trump called President Zelensky of Ukraine "a dictator" and added that he had done a "terrible job" in his role. Trump’s words may shift how some Americans, certainly the ones who follow his lead, feel about U.S. support for Ukraine. In turn, it might become harder for other Americans to advocate for Ukraine. 

The Trump administration’s position on Ukraine has put the U.S. in a tough spot with allies across Europe. Yesterday, CNN reported that the United States joined Russia in voting against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine. The AP reported that Donald Trump has said he wants to bring about “peace through strength.” Our longstanding allies disagree with that approach. For instance, the UK’s UN Ambassador said, “If Russia is allowed to win, we will live in a world where might is right, where borders can be redrawn by force, where aggressors think they can act with impunity.” Denmark’s Deputy Foreign Minister said that in negotiations, there should be “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about European security without Europe.” You may recall that Trump and Putin recently met to discuss Ukraine and did not include President Zelensky in their phone call. It seems clear our allies are saying they do not approve of those meetings. 

In a recent episode of The Friday Brief, I talked about my love for the movie Thirteen Days, which focuses on the Cuban Missile Crisis. I’m trying to imagine how the Kennedy administration would react to knowing that decades in the future, the U.S. sided with Russia over our strongest allies. While world leaders are debating the nuances of language in UN resolutions, I think it is so important to remember all of the people impacted by this war. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians have been killed, and many more have been severely wounded. We don’t even have an exact tally on how many prisoners of war there are, but the BBC has been covering prisoner swaps. They reported yesterday that there might be more than 8,000 Ukrainians held by Russia as prisoners of war. 

All of this means, thousands of families in Ukraine and Russia are grieving losses. And on the Ukrainian side, these losses are compounded with civilian deaths, wounded civilians, decimated buildings, and the total loss of livelihoods in once-thriving cities and towns. Now, how can we help Ukrainians recover? Please donate to organizations that are providing basic necessities like food and medical care. Here are two organizations we recommend. Our friends at World Central Kitchen have been on the ground for three solid years with their Chefs for Ukraine program. They provide hot meals and deliver food packages to communities in Ukraine that still lack access to markets. You’ve probably seen on the news the unthinkable number of people who have lost limbs and still have to fight to protect Ukraine. Doctors Without Borders is in Ukraine, providing medical support for those people. On their website, they note “an increase in war-wounded patients requiring post-amputation physiotherapy, as well as patients requiring treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.” 

Throughout my work in public diplomacy, I noticed something: people, not governments, hold the real power. When people unite across borders and ideologies to do the right thing, they can move political mountains. And that concludes your brief for today. Make sure you don’t miss an episode! Follow Dear Girl Friday on Instagram and TikTok. You can sign up for The Friday Brief newsletter and check out our policy trackers, like “This Week in DC” on deargirlfriday.com. Until next time, I’m Phoenix Ricks signing off from Washington, D.C. Let’s work together for a world of good.