'If Ukraine falls, this will be the end of the European Union and the end of Europe's future'

According to an interview on France twenty-four, Ukrainian philosopher and PEN Ukraine president Dr. Volodymyr Yermolenko argues that Ukraine's survival is existential for Europe itself. Speaking hours after a missile attack on Kyiv, he frames the war not as a military confrontation alone but as a strategic battle for the continent's future. Russia's attacks on residential areas, he contends, reflect military frustration rather than momentum—a sign of weakness, not strength. Ukraine's comparative advantage, he suggests, lies in asymmetric warfare, technological innovation, and the mobilization of civil society. Yermolenko warns that European support for Ukraine should be understood as continental self-preservation, not mere solidarity. If Ukraine falls, he argues, the European Union and Europe's future fall with it.

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