During these protests, the Luxembourgish non-profit organization LUkraine was established by Ukrainians residing in Luxembourg.
Since then, the non-profit has remained steadfast in its mission to raise awareness about the situation in Ukraine, build stronger relations between Luxembourg and Ukraine across all aspects, and extend humanitarian aid to the war-torn nation.
Russia’s invasion quickly became the largest attack on an European country since World War II.
“It’s a chess game,” says Nicolas Zharov, the president of LUkraine. To commemorate the anniversary, RTL Today sat down with Zharov to chat about the impact of the ongoing war, geopolitical tensions and how the organization aims to support Ukraine for 2024.
Multiple factors are currently affecting the war, explains Nicolas Zharov. “Especially the Presidential election going on in the United States, which is affecting a lot.” While Zharov cannot predict the potential president and his actions, he acknowledges that Trump’s declarations that he will end the war in 24-hours if elected are just “not feasible” unless Ukraine surrenders. An option that is not on the table.
“I must admit, that the potential (aid) that we have received from the western alliance allies throughout the last two years, especially in air defense, will be lost if the United States will not be able [...] to provide further military assistance to Ukraine.” Zharov explains that this would be a big loss.
“We see, of course, the lack of military aid to Ukraine,” says Zharov. He explains that Russia is successful in development of technologies, receiving aid from their allies, namely North Korea and Iran. “Unfortunately we cannot scale up the production as quickly as we wanted.”
Over four years, the European Commission has provided 15 billion euros to Ukraine. In numbers this will represent only 0.01% of the GDP Of the European Union each year, says Zharov. “We try to emphasise the fact that [the] Russian economy is on a war setting”, he furthers explains.
If Trump decides to not protect some of the countries who don’t contribute enough money to the NATO it will create another wave of protectionism in Europe explains Zharov. “We [already] see informational war, we see espionage, economic war.”
If every country thinks about defending their own interests and land, the whole of Europe could be threatened. “Breaking up European unity is one of Putin’s plans,” he says.
“The price that Ukrainians are paying right now is way higher than the amount of military and financial humanitarian aid provided to Ukraine”, argues Zharov.
It is important for Zharov that Europe understands that the war against the West is already ongoing. “The threat that is coming from Russia is real. It’s a European threat, it’s not a local conflict.”
When it comes to Luxembourg’s support, Zharov acknowledges that even though the country is small, it has competitive advantages, such as space technologies. When it comes to Russian assets frozen by Luxembourg, Zharov hopes that Ukraine will be able to operate with them. The European Council is making steps towards a decision that might allow using the profits from such assets to rebuild the war-torn country.
Rebuilding is also the key-word in LUkraine’s mission for 2024. One of the strategies the non-profit is working towards is “rebuilding the people who will rebuild Ukraine”. To do so, they keep providing life-saving aid by sending ambulances, medical equipment and medical teams who are working on the ground.
The situation on the frontline is getting worse and Zharov is convinced that they will have even more work to do in the upcoming months.
In October 2022, LUkraine launched a global campaign titled ‘Ukraine is calling’, with the primary goal of fundraising to procure 112 ambulances and fire trucks destined for Ukraine. A few months later, in December, the campaign achieved a significant milestone with the arrival of the first convoy, comprising 16 rescue vehicles, in Ukraine. LUkraine was awarded the European Citizens’ Prize for this project.
“When we talk about health, it’s not only physical health that we want to work on but also the mental health,” Zharov says. LUkraine currently has psychological teams working in Ukraine and Luxembourg.
Zharov also sees a big gap in education caused by the war. “We concentrate our efforts on home schooling, on education and [...] social inclusion,” he explains.
A Saturday-school has been launched in Luxembourg, currently hosting 98 children aged until 11 — with plans to add a second school for 12 to 17 year-old students. Alongside promoting exchange between Ukraine and Luxembourg, the school will concentrate on the strong sides of Luxembourg and prepare its scholars for the finance world.
The number of refugees coming to Luxembourg has calmed down, according to Zharov. He is grateful for the support of Luxembourgish society towards Ukrainian refugees that have been accommodated here. The goal is to give these people the opportunity to come back home, but for this, the source of the problem needs to be solved.
For Zharov this means that unity and diplomacy should become the instruments in fighting back. Otherwise structures like the United Nations, that were created after the World War II, are just useless, he says.
