“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” —George Orwell, 1984.
By March 2025, the phrase “peace in Ukraine” had become as common as “war in Ukraine” was in February 2022. The pope, presidents, politicians of various affiliations, religious leaders and ordinary people now speak of peace.
After three years of a devastating and brutal war, Ukraine desperately needs peace. Civilians in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, and Odesa—cities constantly attacked by Russian guided bombs, drones and missiles—yearn for nights without fear and days without explosions and death. Ukrainian defenders entrenched in foxholes along the frontlines in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia long for peace and the possibility of returning to their families and pre-war lives. Six million Ukrainian refugees and four million internally displaced persons dream of going home—if it still exists. They yearn to reunite with their loved ones in safety. No one desires peace more than Ukrainians, who continue to struggle against an aggressor who seeks to erase their existence.
So why do they keep fighting? Because they understand that peace will not be achieved if Ukraine ceases to defend its citizens, its territory and its dignity. Occupation is not peace. Russia has occupied some of Ukraine’s most densely populated industrial regions—20 percent of the country, home to millions of Ukrainians. According to an Associated Press investigation, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are detained in a network of formal and informal prisons across Russia and the territories it occupies, where they endure torture, psychological abuse and even forced labor.
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Archbishop Borys Gudziak is the metropolitan-archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
With thanks to the America Magazine and Borys Gudziak, where this article originally appeared.
