My grandpa’s war, my family’s flight from the pogroms, – and why defence is in my DNA
THE bomb blew up the apartment block just yards from a nursery. As the smoke cleared, Snezhana made up her mind. But for a simple twist of fate, her six-year-old son Nikita would have been playing in that now damaged kindergarten.
He had already experienced things that no one should ever have to go through, sleeping in a bunker at night alongside his dog.
So, in April 2022 mother and son left Ukraine for the UK and, for a year, became part of our family.
Snez told me her story in the early days of the war, in my Hertfordshire garden. It was difficult to comprehend then. It still is.
How could one man inflict such immeasurable misery on millions of men, women and children?
How could a nation illegally bomb and butcher innocents – hitting hospitals, schools and power stations?
How could this sort of thing happen in Europe again?
Yet, try as he might, Putin is still losing his war. Last month, I stood on Kyiv’s streets, on the eve of Independence Day, and saw why.
Everywhere I looked I witnessed the inimitable spirit of defiance.
I saw citizens taking photos of Putin’s beaten Russian tanks that lined the streets. I heard the air raid sirens sounding as people carried on their daily business alert but unperturbed. I touched the Wall of Remembrance realising this wasn’t merely a moving memorial to those who have fallen.
It was a reminder of a nation’s determination to win.
And, at the nursery, where Nikita – now nearly eight – is fondly remembered, I spoke to his teachers who continue to teach children still in the capital.
Maybe it’s the Blitz spirit, maybe it’s our dislike of bullies, or maybe it’s just our traditional sense of fair play, but Ukraine and the UK share the same iron resolve.
Which is why I’m very proud of the support the UK has given to Ukraine to kick out Russia.
No other nation has been as intuitively supportive as Britain. We were with them from day one. And we will be with them until the end.
And it is not just moral support. The UK has been the second largest contributor after the US.
Having only just returned from Ukraine, it is a huge privilege to be appointed Defence Secretary and be responsible for the men and women of our Armed Forces.
But it’s a responsibility that I won’t bear lightly.
I’m not new to international security. From my time chairing Cobra and serving on the National Security Council, I’ve come to appreciate the dangers our nation faces.
And though I might be new to defence, defence is in the DNA.
Not because my Uncle Solly Shapps – who called me ‘old blue eyes’ when I was too young to have heard of Frank Sinatra – fought in North Africa. Nor is it because my grandpa Morris Grossman told me about his battles in that distant desert theatre.
But because at the end of the 19th Century, my family fleeing persecution and pogroms in Eastern Europe sought safe haven. They found it here in Great Britain. They found it here in a country that for the past three generations gave them opportunities that they could never have dreamt of. They found it here in the nation that gave them the gift of freedom. A gift I will do everything I can to preserve to pass on to generations to come.
Russia is not the only global danger we face. China is in the midst of a rapid military modernisation and increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific. Iran and North Korea are desperate to advance their own nuclear arsenals. Global terrorism remains a persistent threat. And instability is spreading across the Sahel in Africa.
Come what may, defence must always be ready to respond.
SO WE are upping our game. Next year, we will spend more than £50billion on defence for the first time in our history. And we have the largest defence budget in Europe. In fact, this Government has committed to increase spending over the longer-term to 2.5 per cent of GDP as we improve our fiscal position and grow our economy.
And, thanks to the Defence Command Paper Refresh 2023, we have a road map for the way ahead.
We are strengthening our scientific and technological base so we can continue to outmatch our adversaries. We are building sustainable industrial partnerships to rapidly upgrade our kit.
And we are bolstering our bonds with our great international partners, whether with Nato or the US.
Above all, I am determined to ensure that our brave men and women, those who really are our greatest capability, get the opportunities they need to make a genuine difference around the world.
They must be on their mettle because, at a time when aggressive nations blatantly flout the international rule of law, we cannot afford to let our guard down.
My visit to Ukraine was a powerful reminder that freedom isn’t free. Putin is losing. Freedom is winning. Ukrainians are rebuilding. And as Defence Secretary, I will do everything I can to help them get the job done.