Peter J. Worswick

Strategic Communication Adviser and Executive Coach | 30+ Years International Experience | 20+ Years Working in and with Ukraine | Helping Leaders Communicate with Clarity and Influence

PJW International

United Kingdom  

Oct 24, 2025

Missiles and drones strike Ukraine every day. Apartment blocks, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, power stations are all deliberate targets. Civilians face constant danger.

The EU has just passed its nineteenth sanctions package. Nineteenth. A twentieth is already being discussed. The US has just sanctioned the oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft aiming to stop the flow of dollars fuelling Russia’s war machine.

These actions matter. They are right and necessary and good, but they haven’t stopped the war.

Sanctions aren’t failing, they’re not being enforced strictly enough. Russian oil still moves on shadow fleet tankers under false flags. Western components reach weapons factories through third countries. Financial networks find new routes in days. And international companies like PepsiCo, Nestle, Mondelez and others continue to operate in Russia, paying taxes to the Kremlin.

Every time Russia takes a hit on the battlefield, or loses assets critical to its war effort, it lashes out at Ukrainian cities, terrorising civilians as part of a genocidal policy it has pursued since the very start of the full-scale invasion.

That’s why air defence is essential; it is survival. and Ukraine needs the capability to destroy what sanctions alone haven’t stopped.

Sanctions enforcement is inconsistent. Loopholes remain open because closing them would come with a cost or inconvenience. Every delay, exemption, and compromise leaves Ukrainian families exposed to terror.

The stakes are European too. Ukraine is not only defending itself, it is defending Europe’s cities, freedom and security.  Every missile intercepted, drone factory destroyed, and supply line disrupted buys Europe time and protects our own cities from the very real threat of Russian aggression.

Sanctions only work when they’re enforced. When the money stops moving. When the companies leave. When the factories go silent. When the missiles stop because there’s nothing left to build them with, and Ukraine can destroy what remains.

This isn’t complicated. It’s a choice. A choice between tolerating an economy built on terror or proving that the murder of civilians carries consequences that cannot be ignored or delayed.

Ukraine isn’t asking the West to fight its war. It’s asking that the promises we make, and laws and values we defend, mean something.

StandWithUkraine #SanctionsMatter #DefendDemocracy #SupportUkraine #StopRussianAggression #AirDefence