What Is Ukraine’s End Goal In Its War With Russia? Voices From The Battlefield.

It has been over 100 days since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The fight rages on, taking the lives of thousands of civilians and soldiers. Ukraine is defending itself in this unprovoked war and is determined to win. But what would Ukrainian fighters and negotiators consider adequate terms for victory?

As of this week, Russia occupies about 20% of Ukrainian territories. According to The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the total number of civilian deaths as of May 25, was 3,998 – 260 of them children. Another 4,693 people have been injured. But considering there is no access to Russian-occupied Mariupol, Kherson, and other towns and villages in eastern Ukraine, and the mass graves discovered in formerly occupied territories, the true death toll is undoubtedly much higher.

The many bodies and atrocities discovered in the cities of Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and others, indicate that the Russian army is systematically using rape, and torture as weapons of war—to terrorize and assert control. The killing of civilians—including women and children—is common practice among Russian soldiers in occupied areas, as is kidnapping and imprisonment.

Throughout the Eastern parts of Ukraine, Russia has forcibly moved over 1.2 million Ukrainians to Russia, putting them through ‘filtration’ and ‘de-Ukrainization’ camps. Afterwards they are sent against their will to far flung areas in Russia, such as the Ural mountains and the far east; often without means of support, leaving them unable to relocate, let alone return home.

According to Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner, Lyudmila Denysova, as of April, more than 121,000 children have been forcibly deported to Russia in recent weeks. This number includes orphaned children and those who have lost one or both parents. Prosecutors in Ukraine do investigate war crimes cases in Ukraine, seeking to build a case for a genocide indictment, says the country’s prosecution office.

While a diplomatic end to the conflict is not off the table, for Ukrainians victory in this war carries specific requirements: Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be restored to its original 2014 borders—meaning a Russian exit from the Crimean peninsula. Also, Russia must compensate Ukraine for the infrastructural damage and loss of life the Kremlin’s war has inflicted. An international tribunal in Nuremberg must be held to try those responsible for war atrocities and crimes. And, a clear path to membership in the European Union and NATO must be laid out for Ukraine.

Though the west and Ukraine’s international partners are not entirely united on how to deal with Russia and Ukraine, during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week it was obvious to most that Russia presents a serious threat to global security, as the war in Ukraine dominated many discussions.

A number of Ukrainian fighters addressed Davos attendees remotely via teleconference, some of them literally from the trenches (thanks to Elon Musk’s donation of Starlink systems to Ukraine). At a gathering produced by Ukraine House—co-organized by Victor Punchuk Foundation, Western NIS Enterprise Fund, and Horizon Capital—author Malcolm Nance, filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, Maryna Babchynitser of Ukrainian National Guard, and Ukrainian MP Yehor Cherniev, provided insights into what Ukraine wants and what it’s fighting for.

Here’s what they had to say.

Malcolm Nance, bestselling author, former US naval intelligence Officer, and MSNBC news analyst – now a Ukrainian International Legionnaire:

“When you watch the news cycle, it’s easy to forget that there is an actual war with people dying every day. We (Ukrainian International Legion – FORBES) represent the international component of this war. We’ve given up our lives, our careers. We’ve come here because we have combat experience and we want to assist the people of Ukraine in the most fundamental aspect of that.

“In the Ukrainian armed forces and Ukrainian international legion—people representing 52 nations—we are committed to taking back the territories that we’ve lost to Russia. What has happened here is immoral. It cannot be allowed to continue; it cannot be allowed to go unpunished. Russian forces must be defeated.

“Russia is going to lose this war. They are not going to win. If the Ukrainian forces continue getting the weapons they need—high mobility multiple rocket launch systems, the patriot systems, air defense systems—I give you one single outcome: by September of this year the Russian army will be broken. Russia needs to understand, invading Ukraine and violating its sovereignty has consequences.

“This is a war for the survival of this nation. What is the cost of the number of dead Ukrainian children that it would take for you to give us what we need? What will it cost? How many civilians have to die? A thousand? Twenty-thousand? Do we have to find out how many people are in mass graves in Mariupol?

“The war, the clash of civilizations, is between totalitarianism and the forces of democracy. Democracy is under siege and it’s in Ukraine. You are dealing with a dictator equal to Hitler. Equal to Stalin. If we do not win this war—I mean every one of you—if we lose, you will lose. There will be other nations that will fall to totalitarianism.”

Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian filmmaker, writer, and activist from Crimea who was imprisoned in Russia for five years:

“We need heavy armory, heavy artillery systems, multi-rocket launchers—a contemporary war is not waged just by sending people without equipment. We’re trying to fight smart by saving our resources here.

“What is victory? For me and for the guys that are here on the front lines it’s about this simple question: first, it’s the de-occupation of all territories that are occupied by the Russian federation after 2014 and now. Going back to the original territory of Ukraine that is acknowledged by the international community. Second, compensating all the costs of the damage done to Ukraine’s infrastructure and human losses. Third, a Nuremberg international trial of the contemporary Nazis lead by Putin, and of those war criminals who started this war and killed thousands of Ukrainians.

“I understand that there is ‘realpolitik,’ and some politicians may think differently and some of our partners have a different viewpoint and they’ve been telling us for eight years we should negotiate with Russia. Putin doesn’t want negotiations; they want to eat us up and destroy us as a nation. This is why this is a matter of survival.

“Just to give you an example: after the shooting of the Heavenly Hundred in February of 2014, Yanukovych stepped outside of the law and gave the order to shoot the protestors. Next day there were negotiations led by the leaders of Maidan and signed on the 21st of February. It was shown to the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian people said ‘we are not going to accept that agreement.’ No agreements with killers–he either has to be dismissed or we will continue to fight. He resigned and the international partners had to accept the reality dictated by the Ukrainian people. We live in a new Ukrainian reality which is also dictated by the Ukrainian people. We want to have a full victory; the destruction of Putin’s Russia and a return to the borders of our territory.”

Maryna Babchynitser, Correspondent officer of the Operational Battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine:

“When I got the confirmation that the full-scale invasion had started, my little daughter was sleeping. I started to pack clothes and things for my daughter. We had a plan on how to evacuate my daughter and my parents from Kyiv.

“Now, in Ukraine, there is no safe space. There is no safe city or village. Because Russian missiles can strike anywhere. How did I make this decision to stay and serve, instead of leaving with my daughter? It was not easy. But who else will do that, if not us? This is our country, this is our land. This is our children’s legacy.

“We all want our Ukrainian children to live in Ukraine. Independent, free and safe. But, for now, a lot of cities, villages are wiped out. There are a lot of towns that are totally destroyed by Russians: Borodyanka, Bucha, Mariupol, Volnovaha, Severodonetsk, Novotoshkivka—they are simply destroyed.

“Every day we hear interceptions of the occupants’ conversations with their families and friends. And it’s unbelievable how they are supported by their families and friends in their violence, and how they kill Ukrainians, and how they torture Ukrainians.

“This is simply a genocide of Ukrainians. Russians are killing civilians. They are killing children, men, women. Their violence is just inhumane. A nine month-old girl was raped by a Russian soldier in front of her mother. A one year-old boy was raped by two Russian soldiers. He died. A two-year-old girl was raped by Russian soldiers, she survived. We see so many of these war crimes here in Ukraine. This is just unacceptable.

“We’ve seen a lot of violence. We’ve seen bodies of women, men, small children, with their hands tied behind their backs. Just imagine that. Just imagine how violent and cruel they are. Everywhere Russians stopped, there was destruction, there was devastation. 440 children were wounded.

“We will never forgive that. Nor forget that. And we are asking you, the world: Please don’t forget that. The responsibility is not just Putin’s. Every Russian who silently or loudly supports war in Ukraine, supports violence, atrocities, and these inhumane war crimes. We do not give our land up. And we are asking you, please, do not give up on Ukraine.”

Yegor Cherniev, Ukrainian Member of Parliament, chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the NATO PA, and member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces:

“Russians are trying to occupy a land corridor to Crimea; trying to grab as much land as possible. Heavy shelling and fighting continues near the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Ukraine’s coast of the Black Sea and Azov Seas remain blocked. The Russian military continues its strikes on Ukraine’s military and civilian infrastructure. There are no signs that Russia is ready to end this war.

“This is why we have to win this war. But for this we need more heavy weapons–modern weapons, by NATO standards–to release Russia’s occupied territories. And the faster we receive it, the sooner the war will end, and the fewer casualties we’ll have..

“Yes, we remain (open to – FORBES) meaningful negotiations with Russia, but based on the full restoration of our full territorial integrity and the economic recovery of Ukraine. Of course, the Kremlin has their own vision of this negotiation and last week we saw very strange activities from once very well respected politicians, journalists and public figures that claimed that Putin should be allowed to save face, and we have to start these negotiations on his terms. We will not surrender to any pressure.

“This war is not only a war between Ukraine and Russia, it’s a war between the democratic and autocratic world. The paradox is that the western world helped to grow this monster – the Russian Federation–because of the globalized world, because of its interconnection with the Russian federation. The countries that don’t share democratic values and act against the values of the free world, cannot participate in globalization and enjoy all its benefits. Globalization must stand on two legs—an open economy and democratic values. If one of these legs is missing, globalization will collapse sooner or later.

“You see this in Ukraine today, for example. In Ukraine you have 90 million tons of agricultural products blocked due to Russian aggression. Four hundred million lives in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia are at risk due to future food shortages. What other proof needs to be shown that autocrats are not friends of the global world? They should be banished from the World Trade Organization, from the World Bank, from the International Monetary fund, and others. No preferential trade rules should be applied to them.

“In this context, any talk about the need to save face for Putin, starting negotiations with Putin, the dictator, or returning to ‘business as usual’, will only prolong the problems with Russia. The world has to stop buying Russia’s commodities—specifically, oil and gas. Russia’s frozen assets abroad need to be used to compensate Ukraine. Eventually, Russia has to be recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism.

“After this war, we have to become a member of the EU and a member of NATO. This is the only way to protect ourselves from this aggressive neighbor. We understand, if Russia is defeated now, it will accumulate new forces, new powers, and it will invade again and again. Because it’s Russia; it’s an aggressive neighbor. We have about 400 years of history of war.

On nuclear weapons:

“Nobody understands what is happening in the head of the crazy dictator, Putin. We understand it will be a new normality in the war. Right now he (Putin – FORBES) has partners—like China or India. After using nuclear weapons, he will be alone against the western world, against China. I think he will not be able to press the red button.”

These interviews were edited for clarity. You can watch full program here.