We are living in one of the most difficult and defining periods in our history. Every day Russia reminds us who we are dealing with. Russia is trying to break us not only on the front. It is trying to make fear a part of our daily lives, to make us accustomed to sirens, to explosions, to losses, to the idea that the war will last forever.
But we cannot get used to it and we cannot allow Russia to determine what Ukraine will be like.
And it is at this very moment that Ukraine faces colossal challenges.
The war continues, the enemy changes tactics. We need to produce weapons faster, implement technologies, negotiate with partners, and make critical decisions every day.
In such a situation, the country cannot remain without a fully appointed Minister of Defense. This is abnormal. For Ukraine, which fights for its existence every day, defense policy cannot be in a temporary mode.
But the problem is much broader than one position or one ministry.
We must answer a fundamental question: how should a state function if the war lasts for years?
And the next thing: if the war continues for another year, two, three, can Russia actually gain the right to determine when Ukrainians will be able to elect their government again?
I am convinced that it is not.
Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state.
Therefore, we must find a legal, safe, and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full-fledged democratic process even in the face of a protracted war.
It is difficult. We need to ensure the right to vote for the military, millions of Ukrainians abroad, and people in frontline regions. We need to ensure the security of the electoral process, the independence of institutions, and trust in the result.
But complexity does not mean impossibility.
Ukraine has done many times what the world thought was impossible. We can find a solution in this situation too, because democracy is not a peacetime luxury.
Democracy is part of what we are fighting for today.
But there is another reason why this conversation is needed right now.
People cannot live indefinitely in a state where they do not understand why certain decisions are made. Why do some reforms move forward while others are blocked? Why do decisions that are needed on the front lines today take months to go through cabinets?
And it is especially dangerous when society feels that the main criterion for appointing a person is not their professionalism, results, or ability to change the country, but their personal loyalty to the system.
This is not how a modern state can work, and even less so how a country that is waging a war for its existence can work.
We must also talk about corruption.
Not because it’s a popular word, but because during war, corruption takes on a completely different meaning.
In peacetime, stolen money means a worse road, hospital, or school. In wartime, stolen money can mean a drone that wasn’t bought, ammunition that didn’t arrive, an electronic warfare system that wasn’t there, a car that didn’t evacuate a wounded person, a technology that could have been put into production but wasn’t.
Therefore, corruption during war is not just a financial problem. It is a question of our ability to survive and win.
Every hryvnia that was supposed to be spent on defense should be spent on defense.
Not for personal gain, not for political influence, not for supporting someone’s schemes, not for preserving someone’s position.
Corruption is just a symptom. The main problem is much deeper.
We have a systemic governance crisis.
The old system too often lives by its own rules. It protects itself, it fears change. It is slow to make decisions. It can punish initiative and reward loyalty.
It can maintain inefficient structures for years simply because everyone is used to them.
The point is that the state is a system that must have clear goals, a strategy, and effective teams.
The governance of parliament should be based on the majority’s program, values, and principles, not on one’s own private interests in defense, pharmaceuticals, gambling, or taxation.
Because the parliament is the heart of Ukrainian democracy, not its wallet.
And war does not forgive such things.
Ukraine needs a very simple principle.
Power must mean responsibility.
If you have been given authority, be responsible for the result.
If you received a budget, show what was done.
If you got the position, explain what results you achieved.
People can survive extremely difficult times. Ukrainians have already proven this.
But there is one thing that is very difficult to endure indefinitely.
Feeling of injustice.
When a person risks their life at the front, and someone steals during the war.
When a business pays taxes, it faces arbitrary action from law enforcement.
When a talented person cannot change the system because it is simply not theirs.
When the public is informed about decisions, but no one explains why they were made.
This is how the most important thing is gradually destroyed: trust between citizens and the state.
And this trust must be restored.
But there is one more thing we need to talk about.
Hope.
Hope that tomorrow will be better. Hope that this country is changing.
The hope that after all our sacrifices, we will not return to the same system we have been trying to escape from for years.
We are definitely not fighting for a country of hopelessness.
We are fighting for a state in which people feel that their voice matters.
Ukrainians have always given their government a huge credit of trust, especially during the war.
Millions of people agreed to incredible restrictions, hardships, and sacrifices because they understood that the country must survive.
And this is a huge responsibility for any government.
Because trust is not the right to do everything without explanation.
It is a duty to be even more honest with society.
This is where the simple principle of a new social contract should exist.
The citizen trusts the state. The state speaks honestly to the citizen. The citizen fulfills his duty. The state fulfills its.
Man protects the country. The country protects the man.
People don’t demand that the state never make mistakes. They understand how complicated this war is. They understand that sometimes there are no perfect solutions, but they have a right to the truth.
This is how trust is restored, and with trust, hope returns.
The hope that after this war, Ukraine will become not just a country that survived, but a country that has become stronger, fairer, and freer.
We have no right to allow the old system to take this hope away from Ukrainians.
We already have an enemy.
This is Russia.
Russia doesn’t just want to take our land. It wants to prove that the Ukrainian model of freedom doesn’t work.
That is why Ukraine must prove the opposite.
Ukraine can simultaneously fight and remain a democracy.
Elections are not just a ballot. They are a moment when the government comes to the citizen again and says: «We did it. Now you decide whether you trust us further.»
And it is this principle that distinguishes a democratic state from a system where the government itself decides when society can evaluate it.
We must not let Putin decide when Ukrainians can choose their government.
Ukrainian democracy should not depend on the goodwill of the Kremlin.
We saw our military doing the impossible every day.
We have seen our engineers create technologies in months that would take large international companies years to develop.
We saw young Ukrainians who don’t wait for someone to solve a problem for them. They find solutions themselves.
We saw people who, after a sleepless night due to shelling, go to work in the morning and continue to build the country.
We saw those who lost their homes, businesses, and loved ones, but did not lose faith in Ukraine.
And when we see such people, we understand: the problem of Ukraine is definitely not with Ukrainians.
Our people have long been ready for another country.
Now our state must become worthy of its people.
A state where institutions are stronger than surnames, where results are more important than loyalty, where truth is more important than political convenience, where corruption does not steal our future, and where the Ukrainian people are not bystanders.
The Ukrainian people are the source of power.
The state exists for the citizen.
Institutions exist for results.
The army exists to protect the country.
And the government exists to serve Ukraine.
Never to myself.
We must build such a Ukraine, we must protect such a Ukraine.
And this is exactly the Ukraine we must leave to those who come after us.
