EditLetter from Kyiv: Across the line in the sand
The distinction between Ukraine’s battlefield and Europe’s supposed security is growing thinner, almost imaginary
Europe must understand that what is unfolding is not merely a territorial dispute, it is something deeper: a vicious aggression against the very principles of humanity on which Europe claims to stand, writes Sed Tkachuk.
Volodymyr (Sed) Tkachuk is a communications specialist and free-lance journalist, signing Sed Tkachuk.
On the night of 9 September, air raid sirens blare through Kyiv’s evening air. Explosions from the impact and falling debris of Shahed-type drones shake the city wide awake — for the second time this week.
Within hours, news breaks of drones crossing over into Polish airspace.
To a Ukrainian, this is no surprise. Nor even to a Polе living in the near-border region. Missiles and drones have breached that part of “the line” before, more than once. Yet somehow, this time feels and reads different — not merely because Dutch jets were scrambled to intercept the targets.
It is because the war is no longer brushing against Europe’s borders; it is pressing its forehead against them. The distinction between Ukraine’s battlefield and Europe’s supposed security is growing thinner, almost imaginary. To pretend otherwise is not just naïve — it is perilously dangerous.
The war must be fought — that is the unyielding reality. This time tyranny and genocide are not abstract warnings; they are knocking at the door, and that door faces east.
Europe must understand that what is unfolding is not merely a territorial dispute, nor only an assault on the EU’s political framework. It is something deeper: a vicious aggression against the very principles of humanity on which Europe claims to stand.
History has already warned us many times over. It is vital not to repeat the mistakes of 1933, when blind faith in diplomacy overshadowed the urgency of deterring an aggressor still in its infancy. The price of appeasement then was paid in global catastrophe. The question now is whether Europe has learned.
The cost of hesitation is not theoretical. On 9 September a Russian missile struck a site in the town of Yarova where Ukrainian pensioners had gathered to collect their benefits. Twenty-two people died. Europe remained silent. Trump did not notice. Silence in the face of such acts is not neutrality — it is complicity.
A serial killer does not stop on their own. They are stopped. By the force of many.
Caption: Polish officials work at the crash site of a Russian drone in the village of Wohyn, eastern Poland, 10 September 2025. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported that 19 violations of Polish airspace occurred overnight during a Russian attack on Ukraine, with drones repeatedly violating Polish airspace. EPA/WOJTEK JARGILO
Updated: September 11, 2025 - 14:24
