Russia had barely attacked Ukraine last year when Yuliya Kovaliv was appointed diplomat and ambassador for the very first time. Since then, the Ukrainian head of mission in Canada has been striving every day to obtain aid for her country, while also managing the daily concern for her family left behind. As 12 months of conflict approach, and as Russia begins a new offensive, military support for Ukraine remains more urgent than ever, insists the ambassador in an interview with The duty. To protect Europe, but also democracy throughout the world.
“We are approaching a year. A year of Ukrainian resistance,” says Yuliya Kovaliv in the offices of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa. Everything here is carefully chosen to make the patriotic fiber vibrate and to condemn Russian aggression. The Ukrainian flag, placed on the conference table alongside the maple leaf. The golden brooch pinned to the jacket of the ambassador and taking up this image of the ceramic rooster found intact in the middle of the rubble, which has become the symbol of resistance.
Yuliya Kovaliv began her career in civil society, then in the civil service, following the 2014 revolution, before joining the cabinet of President Volodymyr Zelensky. On March 9, 2022, two weeks after the first bombings, she was named ambassador to Canada, at the age of 37.
Nearly a year later, she is searching for the words to describe this first post as a diplomat landed in wartime. “It’s one of the most important jobs I’ve had in my life. Because it’s a position — and I’ve set myself this goal — where you can help your country at the most important time in its modern history,” says Ms.me Kovaliv, who says she has “learned a lot more about military matters” in the process than she ever imagined.
What is the choice for our allies? Support Ukrainians who fight for the values we all share, or else what will become of the world?
But before starting this work, the ambassador consults on waking every morning, like her colleagues, the application which lists on her phone the sirens having sounded across Ukraine during the night to alert of potential strikes. “We call our family members sometimes, to make sure they are okay. Parents, grandparents, friends still in the country, or even the husband of an employee forced to stay there like thousands of other Ukrainian men.
Climbing, a false debate
The new Russian offensive, which many expected in the spring, already seems to be taking shape. Ukraine therefore needs even more military support and quickly, insists Yuliya Kovaliv. “We must not only be able to resist a potential Russian offensive, but also be able to carry out offensive operations as well and repel them,” said the ambassador, in front of her note sheet gathering messages from Kiev for the ‘West.
“We need these weapons to liberate our territory, but also the millions of people who live under occupation,” she adds. “And the more generous and rapid this military aid, the sooner we can liberate these territories and end the war. »
This Kyiv goal remains distant, at best. Military leaders and experts believe the conflict could last for years and no one dares to predict what the outcome will be.
The countries of the European Union and NATO have long been reluctant to supply lethal weapons to the Ukrainians. However, the ambassador has seen an evolution over the past year. What was unthinkable six months ago — sending in tanks — became a reality last month. She also thanks Canada for all its support. The two countries have a close relationship. Canada hosts the second largest Ukrainian diaspora, after Russia.
kyiv is now demanding fighter jets from its allies. A request for the moment rejected by the Americans and the Germans. Britain and France were less closed to the idea, but on several conditions.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly did not come forward after her trip to kyiv this week. Canada is “always ready to help more” and believes that “Ukrainian airspace must be protected even more”, she simply commented, reporting that President Zelensky has not made a “direct request “.
The sending of fighter planes, if it turns out, would however only be useful in several years, the time to train the Ukrainian forces to pilot them.
“We want to win the war,” argues Ambassador Kovaliv nonetheless. “It is important not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world. Where people believe in democracy, freedom, human rights, the freedom of people to have their own culture, their own language. »
However, Western countries are afraid of possibly taking a step that would lead to an escalation of the conflict between the West and Russia. “There is no concrete link”, retorts Mme Kovaliv, arguing that it is Russia that is trying to use any excuse to justify escalating the conflict. “What is the choice for our allies? Support Ukrainians who fight for the values we all share, or else what will become of the world? »
This sense of urgency, kyiv brandishes it just as much with regard to its adhesion to NATO. “It is important to win the war. But even after the victory, Ukraine must be a member of NATO, argues Yuliya Kovaliv. Because we must all understand that Russia will remain a neighbor of Ukraine. This is the best way to protect Europe. »
The Russian ambassador in Ottawa proves him right, when he asserts that it would be “naive” for the West to believe that Moscow could abdicate. Oleg Stepanov refuses to fear the military reinforcements dispatched to Ukraine and he insists that they will not change anything on the battlefield. “When the West sends more weapons, it not only prolongs the conflict, but also the suffering of the Ukrainians”, claims Mr. Stepanov, in an interview with The duty.
A new normal, in the face of fear
Ambassador Kovaliv points out that Ukrainians have never given in to fear for a year. “The fear disappeared within minutes of the first explosions and the first sounds of the Russian invasion. »
Millions of Ukrainians, however, fled the country in the weeks following the start of the conflict on 24 February. Many of them have since returned by the thousands, retorts the ambassador. The streets of kyiv have returned to a semblance of normalcy, lulled by the sound of generators keeping cafes and restaurants running.
“I wouldn’t say people adjust. But they resist war, they resist fear,” she says. “They sometimes spend hours in basements or shelters, when the sirens sound, but they continue to live and fight. »
This new normal Yuliya Kovaliv faces in her own family. His two children asked him, at Christmas, for plane tickets to return to kyiv. The trip will come when the ambassador can take a little vacation. “It’s not normal life there, but people manage to find elements of normal wartime life. It must. We can’t stop living. »