May 9th, 2025 should have been the moment Ukraine rose up and said something powerful. Something to wake the world. But no — complete silence. Russia keeps bombing, Ukraine keeps suffering — and there’s no message. Nothing. Just emptiness.
This was the day that could have captured the world’s attention.
A chance to show that Ukraine stands strong, fighting not just with weapons but for values.
But it was wasted.
This was the moment to scream — and they stayed quiet.
And then there’s Estonia.
Us.
We who pay. We who send money, equipment, support.
We who listen every day to how “we must support Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, our own people are struggling.
Food banks with queues, the elderly counting cents, no mental health support, teachers quitting, youth exhausted.
And yet our defense tax keeps rising. Again and again.
And for what?
Estonian citizens are asked to give more and more. In the name of patriotism. In the name of NATO. In the name of values.
But at the same time, it feels like our country cares more about how it looks to the world than how its own people are surviving.
If anyone dares to ask, “But what about us?”, they’re immediately labeled a Putin puppet or an enemy.
I’m not an enemy.
I’m a disappointed citizen.
Disappointed in how our support is wasted into silence.
Disappointed in how our own people are pushed aside.
Disappointed in how a war is being used for political gain while ordinary people in Estonia live on the bare minimum and are told to shut up.
If Ukraine stays silent and Estonia just keeps paying —
then who’s listening to us?
Who stands for us?
And if this is all just a game —
then I’m not playing anymore.
/Janar Keel, Facebook/
