dying every single day, fighting this war. and so that is what they have to focus on, is how they are going to survive tomorrow, how they are going to hold the line to the east and the south, how the air going to fortify their defenses to the north with a russian troop buildup in belarus and the potential for hundreds of thousands of troops to once again try to make an invasion heading straight toward the capital city, kyiv, and how do they do that when their power grid is so crippled that they have essentially, in some places, run out of soviet era replacement parts to fix the power grid they are even appealing to four other other former soviet nations for part because they just don t make them anymore. so the reality of the situation here is that as triumphant as this is, the ukrainians know more than anyone else in the world that this war is far from over. triumphant here in washington, dire in ukraine. will ripley, thanks so much. joining me now, the former u.s. ambassador to u
and ukraine, it is coming from him. but it s also coming from the people themselves, as he referred to in his speech. let me bring in jim sciutto and ask a question. ambassador yovanovitch, i certainly don t have to remind, you i might have some remind some people watching that you are a central figure in the first impeachment because you are talkative the former president, because you did not go along with a very different approach to ukraine, a dismissive approach, one might say. i wonder if you could describe the shift between then and now in terms of u.s. support. and could ukraine be putting up the fight that it is today without that change, without that shift, without u.s. support? i think you are support is absolutely critical to the fight in ukraine right now. and every ukrainian, starting with president zelenskyy on throughout the population, recognizes that. and is very grateful every american that they meet, how grateful they really are. our support is crucial.
it is already happening. it is huge. it just happened that is happening in my country, in ukraine. it is involving the whole world. right now, somewhere in ukraine, in my country, it will be decided, in which kinds of the world your children will be living. and those are the stakes? i m asking. those are the stakes, it s not just you saying it s a battle for ukraine, it s a battle for democracy and freedom. this is a battle of the world, and a result of the battle will define which kind of the worlds our children will be living in. will it be the free and democratic world where it life matters? there is dignity and respect? and equality? or, russia pulls us back to tyranny and into darkness?
seem to us in ukraine that is being dangerous. students close to the frontline, they face more danger than zelenska flying to washington. finally, how are you and your family doing so far in the u.s.? we want to come back home. we want our home to stay intact. we want our friends to stay alive and come back from the front lines. we want all the ukrainians to come back and to start our peaceful life from the very beginning. but, it is real. christmas is coming. we want to have the christmas mood. but unlike you americans, here, being in america as ukrainians, we feel that the war is already here. it s not somewhere far away. it s already. here it is happening. to know when you have christmas dinner, when you enjoy this time. the roof is on fire. and is the most important right now to stop the fire.
felton came out did exactly what they need to do. he s got to feel really good. he did what you need a speaker to do. he spoke in that the very first line, he said, the applause is not for me. it s for the ukrainian people. always the ukrainian people the foundation of what he was saying that s what you need, that humility of later. this is not many. this is my country, this is my people. i thought it was terrific this is a night i feel like we are living in history. and we have to remember how important this democracy is for us. and when we think about all the minor things we worry about in our country right now, preserving democracy here at home, and preserving it abroad is what we should all be thinking and maybe this will raise us to that height and we will look at the january 6th hearings and we will think of, where do we go to preserve this democracy? and connect it all together. i feel like i m living in history tonight. for me, as an historian, it s a great feeling. e