The battles Ukraine has already won

Nearly two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war's end seems nowhere in sight.

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Nonetheless, Ukraine has already won numerous important battles, many of which we began fighting long before Russia's latest assault on our country. These victories will, I am certain, help to ensure our final victory in this vile and violent war.

Ever since we regained our independence in 1991, Ukrainians have struggled to be seen as part of Europe. Today, however, no one thinks of Ukraine as some no man's land linking Russia and the West. And only the most delusional of Russians still imagines that Ukrainians will ever again see their country as part of some "Russkiy mir" (Russian world)-a fever dream of Vladimir Putin that apparently contributed to his decision to launch a war of aggression against us.

Instead, it is now clear to the entire world that Ukraine is in the West and of the West-as European as France, Italy, Germany, or anyone else. Our core values are Western values: liberty, democracy, and the rule of law. And our membership in the premier European and Western institutions the European Union and NATO-await only our inevitable triumph over the Russian invaders.

The second long-running battle in which Ukraine can now declare victory is internal.

Since regaining our independence three decades ago, the Ukrainian people have twice needed to rise up to overthrow dictatorial regimes that gained power by applying the old divide-and-rule principle. The divisions they exploited, cynically and ruthlessly, were those between our country's west and east, between its Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking communities.