Thirty-five years ago, a nation was reborn. Today it symbolizes freedom and resistance to aggression.
By Arseniy Yatsenyuk and David Petraeus
Aug. 23, 2026
Ukraine’s independence day is Aug. 24, marking the 35th anniversary of the restoration of its independence. In those 35 years, Ukraine has undergone an extraordinary transformation from a fragment of the Soviet empire into a nation that is a global symbol of the struggle for freedom and a cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security.
While this anniversary is significant to Ukraine, it is part of a much larger story of how the global order has changed over the past 3½ decades.
We have traveled from the euphoria that followed the collapse of Soviet totalitarianism—which many believed to be the final prison of nations—to the horror of Russia’s revanchism against Ukraine and attempt to overturn the international order.
We have traveled from the complacent conviction that the liberal international order had triumphed and that we had seen “the end of history” to the painful realization that authoritarianism retained its power over nations.
We have traveled from the illusion that humanity had left global wars behind forever to the stark prospect of a third world war that could span continents and have devastating global consequences.
We believed that the defining metaphor of the new era would be the fall of the Berlin Wall. In reality, the defining metaphor of this new era is the inspirational, determined and innovative defense of Ukraine’s freedom in the face of unprovoked aggression—and, indirectly, Ukraine’s defense of Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well.
Ukraine has shown the world what a nation is capable of when it refuses to submit to a murderous foreign regime and is prepared to fight for its freedom and its existence as an independent country.
Modern Ukraine’s reaching and maintaining independence ranks among the greatest achievements of modern history, alongside the 250th anniversary of American independence, the establishment of the European Union, the reunification of Germany and the enlargement of a united Europe.
The 35 years of modern Ukraine’s independence haven’t been without internal challenges, including corruption, dysfunction and various institutional pathologies the nation inherited from the Soviet system. Nonetheless, the country has repeatedly sought to address its shortcomings. However difficult and imperfect at times, those 35 years embody the hope that nations can
achieve independence and justice. They demonstrate that, together, freedom-loving nations are capable of defending a civilized international order.
Ukraine’s experience also reveals hard truths that Western political leaders and societies are forced to face. First, we must abandon the illusion that Russia’s war against Ukraine is taking place somewhere far away, beyond the boundaries of Europe and the NATO alliance. Although Ukraine is on the front lines, this is ultimately a war against Europe and NATO, fought on European soil.
We must also abandon the illusion that this war can be brought to a sudden end or that peace will arrive quickly. The only genuine path to peace lies in Ukraine’s victory and in the maximum political, defense and societal mobilization of a united Europe and a united trans-Atlantic alliance. Mobilization must convince the aggressor that Ukraine will never surrender and that it is prepared to use force against any assault on our collective security, that of Ukraine and NATO.
We must abandon the illusion that Russia can alter its aggressive historical trajectory without accountability and atonement for its crimes. Western leaders often act as though totalitarian regimes will embrace peaceful coexistence in response to Western concessions and passivity, but that will never happen.
A democratic victory would require several ingredients: unconditional support of Ukraine; clear paths to Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the EU; burden-sharing between the U.S. and its European allies inside NATO; institutional reform of the EU to prevent Russia, China and their proxies or sympathizers from paralyzing European freedom; and resistance to the enemy’s cognitive warfare (such as disinformation campaigns) whose purpose is to divide us, awaken dormant fears and local selfishness, and distract us with internal conflicts.
Ukraine didn’t begin this war. Our common enemy began it against Ukraine after the West had convinced itself that the age of authoritarianism was over. The beginning of physical aggression in 2014 should have broken that hope.
Yesterday’s methods can’t win today’s war. The war can be won only through the creativity, resilience and imagination that Ukraine is demonstrating daily through its defense innovation, engineering genius, societal resilience and perseverance—all enabled by support from European and NATO partners.
Thirty-five years of Ukrainian independence constitutes a great victory, especially given the battles of the past 12 years. Behind modern Ukraine stands more than 1,000 years of history—a legacy no less remarkable than Ukraine’s present-day triumphs in the struggle against a ruthless aggressor.
Ukraine’s fight against Russian assault isn’t an isolated regional conflict but a crucial defense of the Western democratic order. Allies’ support for Ukraine is essential, but in an era of authoritarian aggression, the West must do more than provide weapons and aid. It must learn to be as determined and inventive as Ukraine. These lessons are vital to a free Kyiv and the survival of the Ukrainian nation.
Mr. Yatsenyuk served as Ukraine’s prime minister, 2014-16, and is chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and the Open Ukraine Foundation. Mr. Petraeus, a retired U.S. Army general, commanded the surge in Iraq, U.S. Central Command and coalition forces in Afghanistan and served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 2011-12. He is a co-author of “Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza.”