The battle for the future has been lost: veteran accuses authorities of draining the “nation’s treasure”
12 January 17:06
EXCLUSIVE
Veteran and public figure Oleg Simoroz sharply criticized the state’s approach to the problem of young people of draft age (18-25 years) leaving the country. In his speech on the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian", he called this process an irreversible loss of the country’s future and accused the authorities of not fighting for young people, but merely acknowledging their departure.
According to Simoroz, he understands the logic of the military, who fought to ensure peaceful life in the rear. But he views the issue of young people leaving not in the context of mobilization, but as a strategic threat.
“There is such a thing as the future of the country. When the future of the country flees, leaves abroad, the country is doomed to… no future,” he said.
The veteran emphasized that the problem is not the decision to allow emigration itself, but the complete lack of efforts to keep young people in the country. Instead of attracting them with promises and motivating them to stay, the state, in his opinion, limited itself to formally opening the borders.
“What has been done? Nothing. Only this… these people read about corruption scandals, how fed up they are, they are afraid and see no future in this country. They do not see a strong Ukraine. They have all left,” Simoroz stated.
As an alternative, he proposed a comprehensive program that the authorities could implement before making a controversial decision: to create jobs in critical infrastructure, provide quality education and decent working conditions for young professionals.
“I think this would motivate a large number of them to stay… They are the treasure of the nation. Young people are the future. We are fighting for this, damn it,” he said.
Symoroz also cited his personal experience of communicating with schoolchildren, emphasizing that today’s youth are maturing not by age and are a patriotic “treasure” worth fighting for.
