Beatrice is a 19-year-old Australian university student. She has no family ties to Ukraine and has never been there. Last weekend, Beatrice attended a rally outside Sydney Town Hall and sent a message of solidarity to the people of Ukraine and their defenders. She did it in the Ukrainian language she has learned over the last eight months.

Since I arrived in Australia earlier this year as Ukraine’s Ambassador, it’s been extraordinary to meet so many decent Australians like Beatrice who have chosen to support Ukraine and the democratic values it stands for. I think it’s those values – which Aussies sometimes call the “fair go” or standing up for your mates against bullies – that bring Australia and Ukraine together across a vast geographical distance. From your leading politicians to everyday people I have met at footy matches and in pubs, your warmth, your positivity and your moral support are inspiring.

Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko is grateful for Australia’s support during the Russian invasion.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

We Ukrainians – whether it’s the combat soldier in a Bendigo-built Aussie Bushmaster near Kherson or his wife and kids temporarily sheltered in Molong, near Orange – truly appreciate everything you do for us. Thank you.

For example, we took great heart when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently visited Kyiv in the middle of the war. He and I shook hands on the Kyiv plaza where Ukrainians fought for democracy in 2014 – which was followed by Russia illegally invading and annexing Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine.

And, we deeply appreciate the practical assistance Australia has provided – whether it’s helping our refugees fleeing Russia’s violence or it’s helping us end that violence via military aid. Australia is rightly called Ukraine’s greatest non-NATO ally.

Russia’s eight-year-old war against Ukraine has reached a new point. On the one hand, with support from Australia and more than 50 other countries, our armed forces have been liberating towns that, since February, were brutally occupied by Russian forces. On the other hand, faced with defeat, a desperate Putin and his sycophants have launched an unprecedented “missile mania” against Ukraine’s civilians. It’s the largest bombing in Europe since World War II with some 200 missiles and some 50 kamikaze drones (purchased from the dictatorial mullahs of Iran) fired on some 15 Ukrainian cities in the past two weeks.

In my hometown, Kyiv, the playground my wife and I used to take our kids to was levelled by a multi-million dollar rocket fired from a battleship. Since February, such weapons have destroyed hundreds of Ukrainian hospitals and schools. It’s cowardly, bizarre and barbaric.

This escalation is why Ukraine’s allies need to double-down now. There is a window in which to act. The chances of Ukraine defeating Putin on the battlefield are better than ever, but so are the chances of him unleashing more savagery. We’ve come to the moment where we have to work together as never before to resolutely remove the risk to not only Ukrainians, but the West, and return to peace.