This winter in Ukraine promises to be dark and cruel. Just under a month after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, Ukrainians fear that their war will be forgotten. The authorities in Kyiv are also worried about the future of US support, as their American ally struggles to secure international aid to Ukraine in the face of a divided US Congress.
On Thursday, November 2, the US House of Representatives passed a $14.3 billion (€13.4 billion) military aid package for Israel, whereas President Joe Biden is calling for a joint $105 billion package for Israel, Ukraine and partners in Asia, to counter Republicans reluctant to maintain US support for Kyiv. Beyond the supposed "fatigue" of Westerners, 20 months after the start of the Russian invasion, the situation around and in the Gaza Strip seems to have momentarily eclipsed Ukraine from the West's priorities.
"The world's attention has been diverted to what's happening in the Middle East," said Olexiy Haran, professor of political science at Kyiv's prestigious Mohyla University. "We need to act pragmatically. Because with this new conflict, and all its consequences, we find ourselves facing many new challenges," said Solomiia Bobrovska, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, and a member of the Committee for National Security and Defense. "I understand that it's hard to keep up, that people are getting tired," she said. "But this isn't an online game. This is about the world in which people live and their families. What we're experiencing is not normal, it's abnormal." On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to visit Kyiv, to reassure Ukrainian authorities regarding the EU's financial support and Ukraine's bid to join the European bloc.
In recent days, as media coverage of Ukraine has shrunk around the world to focus on the Middle East, two articles published by the international press have resonated strongly in the country, as a further wake-up call. The first, published by the American magazine Time on October 30, described a terribly defeatist atmosphere within the Ukrainian presidency, between anger and disillusionment at the decline in support from allied countries. "The scariest thing is that part of the world got used to the war in Ukraine," said Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted in the article. "Exhaustion with the war rolls along like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they start to get a little tired, it becomes like a show to them: ‘I can’t watch this rerun for the 10th time."
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