Hollywood’s glitteratti bestowed American culture’s highest award — an Oscar statuette — upon the makers of “20 Days in Mariupol” at the Academy Awards on March 10. The documentary is a poingnant portrayal of the destruction visited upon Ukraine during the opening days of Russia’s full scale invasion.
I generally don’t think of or even care about the opinions of the trendsetters in Hollywood. But I appreciate the Academy for recognizing powerful storytelling and for doing so when the world badly needs a reminder of what an unprovoked, totalitarian bully is perpetrating in Ukraine.
The violence of Russia’s invasion, as partly revealed by “20 Days in Mariupol,” was part of what helped catalyze a righteous repsonse from Europe and America. Ukraine initially enjoyed widespread financial and materiel support.
Fast forward two years and the war in Ukraine has bogged down into something resembling the entrenched stalemate of World War I. That conflict, though, was waged between two arguably evenly matched adversaries. On paper — population, GDP, military size — Ukraine is the David to Russia’s Goliath. Yet with (mostly) Western resources, Ukraine has proven astonishingly effective at shredding Russian planes, tanks, missiles and men on the battlefield.
But all that is in peril because Ukraine is running out of ammunition, a reality that has permitted Russia to make advances and pummel Ukrainian morale. Even with the ammo crunch, Ukraine’s heroes are still keeping Russian forces largely stalled. But the reality is, Ukraine can’t hold the line indefinitely, and with American aid drying up and the legislation to send more deadlocked in Congress, the feeling at the front is one of urgency.
Last week the Biden administration unexpectedly announced $300 million in military aid to Ukraine. The package was put together using procurement savings, the equivalent of scrounging together the coins in the Pentagon’s couch cushions. The Biden admin’s efforts are appreciated, but it is not enough.
House Speaker Mike Johnson must put Ukraine aid up for a vote, and Congress must pass it — now. American dithering has geopolitical ramifications. Putin is no longer just emboldened to attempt his totalitarian schemes — he brazenly enacts them.
Think about it: just weeks before Putin secured an unprecedented fifth term in Russia’s presidential “elections” this weekend, Putin’s fiercest critic and main opposition leader died while imprisoned in Siberia. Though many suspect it was rigged, Putin’s win reiterates to everyone watching that he’s fully in charge and that his empire-building agenda will proceed unopposed.
To Ukraine’s south, the pro-Putin breakaway territory Transnistria has asked Putin to “protect” it from Moldova’s increasingly pro-Western government, a move reminiscent of those that preceded and supposedly justified Putin’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea. Two weeks ago, Putin’s top crony Dmitry Medvedev stood sinisterly — sporting a Mr. Evil-esque suit, no less! — in front of a map of a chopped up Ukraine and declared, “Ukraine is, of course, Russia.”
For those foolishly convinced that Putin’s ambition ends with Ukraine, I beg you to consider the prevalent thinking of those with a front-row seat. Moldova’s president is scrambling to secure closer ties to the West and clearly believes Putin won’t stop with Ukraine and that her country will be in the crosshairs next. Lithuania’s second-most senior diplomat believes Ukraine is just part of a “very long confrontation” Putin has planned to fight. Romania’s top general is “more than convinced” that Putin plans to escalate the conflict, likely to Moldova first then more broadly across the Balkans, and that his country must be prepared to fight.
I was in Ukraine last fall as part of a small team delivering medical supplies along the frontline — from Kharkiv to Bakhmut to Donetsk Oblast to Kherson. Most soldiers we met spoke proudly of holding the line for freedom’s sake. And not just Ukraine’s freedom. It was clear the brave men and women defending against Russia’s invasion wholeheartedly believe they are keeping a marxist, totalitarian evil from oppressing not just their own families, but the entire Free World.
The stakes are too high to delay longer. Every moment without a swift end to the logjam over continued military aid to Ukraine gives Putin the chance to realize his schemes for widespread territorial expansion. Ukraine has said it will take the blows on behalf of the broader Free World. All it asks for is the ammunition it needs to inflict its own blows. We must give it to them.
Upon further reflection, I fear the Oscar win for “20 Days in Mariupol” will end up being just another elitist virtue signal — a Hollywood-styled, internationally aired yard sign that feigns action and support but delivers nothing. Surely America can do better than to celebrate Ukraine’s resilience with applause and a golden statue while looking away at the moment we can deliver what it truly needs to fight back.
Maybe Ukraine can lob that golden statue at the Russians — if America fails to send more aid, it might be all the ammo they’ve got left.
Seth Grutz is a public relations professional from Virginia and an advisor to The Renewal Initiative.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.