Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s fight for national survival has captured the world’s imagination. This has generated widespread international admiration, but it has also fueled a more troubling trend. Over the past four-and-a-half years, it has become increasingly commonplace to treat Ukrainians as superheroes who are capable of enduring any hardship.
By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long. Their determination to survive amid Russia’s brutal invasion should not be mistaken for a willingness to suffer indefinitely.
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Amid the largest European invasion since World War II, praise for Ukraine’s remarkable resilience is certainly understandable. It may also be convenient. For many, applauding Ukraine’s doggedness is far easier than accepting responsibility for enforcing the kind of deterrence necessary to counter a resurgent Russia.
