The only way to stop Russia's massive attack on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which has destroyed 50% of the nation's energy grid, is to increase the nation's air defense capabilities through such measures as U.S. Patriot missile batteries, Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, said Sunday.
"We see what happens when we don’t have enough air defense," Markarova said on ABC's "This Week." "For 299 days, not only there [has been] a full-fledged war and atrocities, but during the last two months, and you’ve seen it also personally, there is a massive attack on civilian infrastructure. Fifty percent of the energy is destroyed, of the energy grid. We have to stop it."
Russia has warned of unpredictable consequences if the U.S. responds to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's repeated calls for the Patriot missile system, and Markarova called that "very cynical of them."
"They have attacked a peaceful country," she said. "They’re doing all atrocities and all war crimes in Ukraine and they’re trying to scare someone [so] we cannot even defend ourselves."
That means it's time to "stop listening and analyzing" what Russian President Vladimir Putin says, and focus instead on winning the war and working on a war crimes tribunal that will focus on not only the Russian troops on the ground committing war crimes but on Russia's leaders who are responsible, said Markarova.
Meanwhile, with the war moving into the winter months, "we have to be prepared for everything," the ambassador said.
"We have already a number of victories on the battlefield," she said. "That’s why they have resorted to this terror."
Zelenskyy has also said Ukraine will take back Crimea, which could be a redline for Putin, but Markarova insisted that Crimea was "illegally attacked" and taken in 2014, and remains Ukrainian."
"Taking everything back is very, very difficult," she said. "Russia is a very large aggressor, is a nuclear terrorist state…ultimately, we are paying a higher price for liberating our land and our people. But there is no other option because we know what happens under Russian occupation. They are killing and torturing and destroying Ukrainians."
It is also a concern that Belarus last week announced an emergency check of its army's readiness, said Markarova, pointing out that missile attacks and soldiers attacking Ukraine have already been coming in from that country.
"The people in Belarus do not want to be part of this war," she said. "That’s why you see us preparing to defend Ukraine everywhere."
Meanwhile, the United States Congress approved $800 million over the last year to assist Ukraine, but Republicans, who will take control of the House on Jan. 3, are signaling the assistance will be under more scrutiny.
Markarova, though, said Ukraine welcomes "all the transparency and accountability, and we are working with Congress on a very strong bipartisan basis, not only about reports of what we already have received."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.