The Uncertain Future of Ukraine

What is the most urgent issue in the Russia-Ukraine war: the state of the armed forces, the state of education or the state of healthcare?

As of the beginning of the year 2025, Ukraine finds itself in an increasingly precarious situation with regards to its military, education and healthcare. So the inevitable question comes: where shall the resources and efforts be redirected? Of course, each of them have their ups and downs, but in times of strife we cannot afford to choose an option which is not the best.

Education is very important in its own right; no country’s future is secure without a good education for the generations to come. However, the war will not last forever, and a decisively lost war may put the future sovereignity of Ukraine under serious threat. So, I think at least for a few years the country can make do without investing such a big effort in education.

This brings us to the Healthcare System: where every day hundreds of wounded people arrive for treatment, making it one of the main arteries for keeping going without severely crippling its economy and ability to reconstruct. Of course, treating wounded soldiers is extremely important, but even so, they might never return to the frontline, as many of them are seriously maimed and not really fit for combat anymore. As such, I am torn between the Healthcare System and the Armed Forces, both being crucial, but with their ups and downs.

But, overall, I believe the Armed Forces are the ones who should benefit from the most intensive of efforts, as they are crucial to stalling Russia’s advance and ensuring Ukraine’s fight for freedom may continue in the short term; after all, this is a war and no country can win a war without a competent army. This is increasingly pressing, as the newly-elected president Trump of the United States is starting to look at the war no longer as a partner of Ukraine, but as a “mediator”, and has even got to the point of asking for Ukraine’s resources, in exchange for help. This really leaves Ukraine’s strongest ally being the EU, which has still not began producing enough weapons to really make up for the US weapons, which are now probably going to become fewer and fewer.

This being said, I believe if Ukraine is to have a say in the coming peace deals, it has to focus all its resources on bolstering its army, to ensure it can resist short-term and have a fee future long-term.