Faces were long in Ukraine on Wednesday the day after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Many of them fear the turn of events while, in the meantime, their army is retreating day after day against the Russians.
At least that’s what Dereck Blouin-Perry, a Quebecer who is currently on his third trip to a war zone to lend a hand to the Ukrainians, observed.
Quebecer Derek Blouin-Perry during his second solo humanitarian mission last May in the Kherson region.
Photo provided by Derek Blouin-Perry
“Unfortunately, this is truly a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of Ukrainians, and there are many who expect this to be the end. […] I feel a lot of resignation,” he tells Journal en direct d’Odessa.
“In addition to the results, they are exhausted. And they also expect that there will be more excitement on the front lines because the Russians are starting to take ground quickly,” he specifies, adding that currently, civilians are leaving cities like Pokrovsk in large numbers. and Pavlohrad, which were considered safe until recently.
Let us remember that whoever will access the White House in January would, according to several media, wish to demilitarize the country, while leaving the Russians control of the area currently occupied by Moscow, i.e. 20% of Ukrainian territory.
The end of support?
Dereck Blouin-Perry points out that many Ukrainians fear that the financial aid provided by Washington since the start of hostilities, although insufficient in the eyes of many, will be completely cut as soon as Trump arrives.
“The Ukrainians have a lot on their shoulders at the moment. We are far from the optimism and enthusiasm of the beginning. We are more in a perspective where Ukraine feels much more isolated, overwhelmed by an enemy who is too strong and allies who are too little interested in making a real difference.”
The comments collected by Agence France-Presse (AFP), which is also present on the ground in Ukraine, also support the Quebecer’s comments, while a fifty-year-old admitted to fearing the “end of support”.
“I feel a kind of anxiety, because I don’t know what to expect,” Natalia Pitchaktchi, a displaced person from Mariupol, told AFP, among others.
Runner’s luck
Despite this, some continue to fight and cling to hope, since even if they do not really believe that Donald Trump can resolve the conflict in a few days, they do not see how the situation could be worse than that. at present.
“Some choose to play the optimism card and say they want to give the runner a chance, since if they no longer have optimism, they have nothing left,” confides Dereck Blouin-Perry, who spoke with several Ukrainians since his arrival last week.
For his part, he says he is somewhat discouraged by “international disinterest in the Ukrainian cause”, and that is why he wants to make a difference.
He will also spend the next month and a half helping people directly on the front lines.
– With AFP
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