Why Ukraine Is Essential to Preserving Global Democracy and Security

Photo: President Donald Trump hosts a multilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and European leaders, dated August 18, 2025, by The White House

This summary is based on the article “Tragedy of the West: Sacrificing Ukraine and the Rules Based Order.”

The article argues that Russia’s war on Ukraine is not simply a regional conflict. It is part of a broader assault on the global liberal order in which Moscow uses energy blackmail, corruption, propaganda, organized crime, hybrid warfare, and terrorism to undermine democracy and Western security across Europe.

The authors warn that by failing to respond with the seriousness the threat demands, particularly as some Western leaders now consider a peace framework that would force Ukraine into surrender, the West risks legitimizing aggression, rewarding the aggressor, and weakening long standing international norms.

They emphasize that Ukraine now stands as the final frontline defender of global freedom, human dignity, and international law.

As a result, the authors call for a decisive Western strategy that includes maximal sanctions, the seizure of Russian assets, the supply of long range weapons, the prosecution of war criminals, full support for Ukrainian sovereignty, and the possibility of direct European military involvement to protect civilians and infrastructure.

In essence, the article warns that this is not merely a war over territory. It is a test of whether the rules, rights, and freedoms that define the post war international order will endure.

Inside the Ukraine-Russia Energy War: Why Power Grids Are the New Battlefield

Photo: Flag, Ukraine, War image from Pixabay by ELG21

This summary is based on Diane Francis’s analysis in her Substack article “Russia’s Achilles’ Heel.”

Russia and Ukraine’s conflict has shifted into an “Energy War.” With the air campaign intensifying and the ground war largely stalled, Kyiv is striking Russia’s power plants, substations, and high-voltage links to exploit Moscow’s weak, poorly interconnected grid and its limited ability to replace damaged turbines—a vulnerability made worse by Western loopholes in sanctions and by countries that continue to buy Russian oil.

Those precision drone and missile attacks have already caused cascading blackouts, even disrupting Moscow and rail links after strikes hundreds of kilometres away. Ukraine’s ties to the European power system give it an “extension cord” that Russia lacks, allowing Kyiv to sustain its own grid while destabilizing its adversary’s.

The result is a dangerous new leverage point. By targeting generation and transmission outside major cities, Ukraine can plunge large Russian regions into cold and darkness this coming winter without directly attacking the Kremlin. This strategy raises the stakes—and the risk of escalation—as both sides turn energy itself into a weapon of war.