Oleksandra Matviichuk: "Russia is ready for a long drawn out war in Ukraine"

Russia is ready for a long drawn out war in Ukraine, according to leading human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, her comments coming amid intensified attacks in the Russia-Ukraine war and pressure to initiate peace negotiations.

Oleksandra Matviichuk is a leading Ukrainian human rights lawyer and co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

She spoke about the situation on the ground in Ukraine and whether should Ukraine be negotiating with Vladimir Putin.

Matviichuk was recently in Brussels to address the International Conference on Accountability and Justice for Ukraine. She was also the Guest of Honour at the RSF Press Freedom Prize 2023 and participated in the European Parliament’s High-Level Conference on Human rights.

When asked about press freedom in Russia and the war in Ukraine to she replied that she “constantly follows the events inside Russia, reads qualitative research findings and has access to information from the field from Ukraine’s partners.”

She said “Russia is going to spend 40% of its budget on military purposes, and these are just open expenditures. Russia is carrying out a systemic transformation of the society in order to transfer it onto the military track.

“The preparations for a protracted war are underway. The war is being turned into a business because the West is not taking strong action to punish sanctions violations, so Russia is continuing to fund this war.

“Russians from depressed regions are earning such money from the war that they could not earn in their whole lives,” she said.

She added, “Therefore, it is naive to think that someone is worried about hundreds of thousands of dead. Moreover, in the eyes of Russians, they are heroes who gave their lives to return the territories lost after the collapse of the USSR.

“Thereforе there’s no price Putin wouldn’t be willing to pay to achieve his goal. The preparations for a protracted war are underway. It is just a big mistake to think that Russia is preparing for a protracted war only with Ukraine.”

When asked about war fatigue setting in she said, “We should figure out what war fatigue means in the West.

“Because people neither in Berlin nor in Paris are physically experiencing this war, Russian missiles are not targeting their houses, they do not have to make strategic decisions in bomb shelters.

“I think something else is veiled under this expression – “war fatigue”. Because if you are tired, then reasonably you should give Ukraine everything it needs. I think that this “fatigue” stands for an unwillingness to take strong action to help Ukraine to end this war. ”

Whens asked if the EU and member states could do more to bring about a resolution, she said, “Ukraine waited more than a year for its first modern tank, and we still have no modern aircraft and had to launch a counter-offensive without the possibility of securing the sky.

“Russia received over a million artillery shells from North Korea and we did not receive even what had been promised. If autocratic countries help each other, then democratic countries should support each other even more.

“Because we are fighting for freedom, which is rapidly shrinking all over the world. Democracies should roll with the punches. Democracies should win wars,” said the lawyer.

“Otherwise, it will encourage other authoritarian leaders in various parts of the world to do the same as Russia.”

Oleksandra Matviichuk, heads the non-profit organization Centre for Civil Liberties and is a campaigner for democratic reforms in her country and the OSCE.