Outraged by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Laurent tried to join the Ukrainian army and later started bringing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and accommodating Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands. Now he and his son Vadym are willing to do everything possible to bring the victory of Ukraine closer.

Text by: Dmytro Syniak

Laurent Koopmans from the Netherlands has everything one can dream of: a wonderful family, two wonderful children, a big house in the centre of Tilburg, a large city in the province of North Brabant, and a great job. Laurent works as a school history teacher, which is quite a prestigious and relatively high-paying job in the Netherlands. In the first days of the war, the man was seriously looking for opportunities to go to war in Ukraine with his eighteen-year-old son. However, it turned out to be a difficult challenge for people who had never held a weapon. Then Laurent started bringing humanitarian aid collected from his friends and acquaintances to Ukraine. He would go back to the Netherlands with his van full of Ukrainian women and children. My children and wife were passengers on one of his trips…

Ukraine is not a foreign country for Laurent. He is married to Victoria, who was born and raised in Kyiv. Even though he could have gone on vacation to any country in the world, the Dutchman came to Kyiv every year; until 2014, he often travelled to Crimea and was generally a fan of Ukraine. Now Laurent is looking forward to the time when he will be able to help rebuild our state and ‘turn it into one of the most powerful countries in Europe.’ He believes that the future of the entire European continent and the Netherlands in particular now directly depends on Ukraine. And most importantly, Laurent assures that most Dutch people feel the same. We talked to him about that.

 

How did you find out about this war?

In the first days of this war, I was simply unable to believe that something like this could happen at all. I could no longer watch the news, so I started calling people I knew from Ukraine. When they personally told me about the explosions of Russian shells and the attacks of the Russian landing party on Kyiv, I had to accept the terrible reality of the war. War! It was this word that frightened me then because I was seriously worried that the Third World War was about to unfold.

Why? At present, it is more reminiscent of the Crimean War of 1853-1856: the whole civilised world against Russia.

Yes, but in February things looked different. It was obvious that Putin had agreed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on mutual support, and I was waiting for the Chinese army to attack Taiwan any day. Fortunately, this did not happen. But Putin’s words about Ukraine, which he called not a state but a territory, meant a lot to me as a historian. Firstly, if Ukraine is a territory, then this status can easily be attributed to the Baltic countries and other countries of the former Soviet Union. Secondly, if a sovereign state can be deprived of its statehood with such ease, what is happening in Ukraine now is just the beginning. The Pandora’s box is open, and it’s scary to imagine what might happen next.

But no matter what happens, will it affect the Netherlands? After all, Ukraine is so far away.

You’re wrong! It is only 1,500 km to the Ukrainian border, and it took a day for my partner and me to cover this distance, taking turns driving, when we were delivering humanitarian aid. Unless they face resistance, the Russian troops will have three days to reach Amsterdam and my native Tilburg. But that’s not even the point. Putin’s attack on Ukraine affects every inhabitant of the planet. In fact, the Russian president is trying to disrupt the world order, which has been based on international treaties. It is this order that has protected my country for over seventy years. If it is destroyed, the world may well fall back two hundred years when wars of everyone with everyone were the norm. But the difference is that the technology of that time was not able to destroy life on the planet.

In fact, Russia violated the world order in 2008 by attacking Georgia.

That war was short and had much less impact on the world. But most importantly, North Ossetia and Abkhazia, occupied by the Russian dictator, are indeed very far from the borders of the European Union. Ukraine, on the other hand, is very close. If it falls, Russia’s next attack is likely to be on the Baltic states. And then the Netherlands will be forced to go to war with Russia as a member of NATO.

How did you come up with the idea not only to collect humanitarian aid for Ukraine, but also to personally transport it to the border?

You could go crazy just sitting at home and watching the news. I had to do something, so I started collecting humanitarian aid. It was surprisingly simple, because a lot of people, even those I hardly knew, called me and said, “We heard that your wife is Ukrainian. Are you perhaps collecting humanitarian aid for Ukraine?” I consulted with the headteacher of my school, and he allowed me to use the school premises as a warehouse and sorting centre. As a result, students, their parents and friends of parents joined in the collection. That’s why we quickly collected so many different things that we were able to fill the passenger van from floor to ceiling. An acquaintance lent it to me, letting me drive it to the Ukrainian border. Fearing that our aid would be misused, I worked only through personal connections. A woman I know lived in the village of Dymer near Kyiv, which had just been liberated from occupation. I was one hundred percent sure of her, and she later sent us all the necessary reports.

Did you really want to join the Ukrainian army?

I still do. For me, this is quite natural: when your home is attacked by the enemy, you have to defend yourself. By the way, like most Dutch people, I believe that it was my home that Putin attacked. The Ukrainian army is now doing the only right thing, destroying the Russian occupiers and Russian equipment. Because no word of any diplomat, no article or public speech could restrain Putin. The only thing that can stop him is weapons.

Laurent with his son Vadym

A killed dead Dutch soldier, Ronald Vogelaar, was buried in Kharkiv on May 21. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 50 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers die in Ukraine every day. Are you really ready to sacrifice everything you have in the Netherlands for the victory of Ukraine?

Yes, of course, I am. Because this victory, with the help of the European Union and, in particular, the Netherlands, will in any case be our common victory. But let’s be honest: a man without military skills can do nothing in a war of this level. I realised this a few weeks after Russia’s attack on Ukrainian towns and villages. Instead of helping, an unskilled person will only be in the way. If I had any military experience, I would have been fighting somewhere near Sievierodonetsk for some time now. But I am a history teacher who has never dealt with weapons. Everyone is the most useful when doing what they are good at. Then my best help to Ukraine will be rebuilding it after the victory. What I have in mind is, first of all, expert help as a European-style educator, as well as work in a Dutch school in Ukraine. There is at least one in Kyiv.

Can a civilian in the Netherlands acquire military skills?

That’s the point, we can’t! I was looking for options but had no luck. The Netherlands’ membership in NATO has made military professions exceptional. However, most Europeans do not yet feel that they need to be able to protect their homes from foreign attacks, as they did many years ago. After all, NATO is the most powerful military alliance in history, allowing civilians in many countries to feel safe. But if Ukraine loses this war, the risk of a NATO confrontation with Russia will rise sharply. After all, Putin is irrational. He does not think about the consequences of his actions, fancying himself Peter I while forgetting how much the Netherlands taught the Russian tsar and who he would be without their help. Even the current Russian flag is borrowed from the Dutch.

According to French President Emmanuel Macron, European countries have nothing to fight with. He said, for example, that with the same intensity of hostilities as in Ukraine, the French army would run out of ammunition in three days.

This phrase was uttered in the first days of the war when the situation really looked very bad. But in three months, it has changed a lot. Now all European countries, and the Netherlands in particular, are actively arming themselves with the most modern weapons. This must be done to prevent the spread of the fire of war. After all, Putin attacked Ukraine, counting on its weakness. We want to show him right away that we are much stronger than him. Besides, we now see how wrong we were to think of the Russian army as unbeatable. When, in fact, it turned out extremely weak. Look at what they are fighting for! Where are their much-touted Armata tanks? They do not exist! Instead, we see the ugly mastodons of the 1960s. And while the Dutch army, like the French, cannot stand up to Putin’s troops alone, it is an extremely threatening force as part of NATO. Russian looters driving old Soviet scrap would be unable to overcome it.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte became the second world leader to deliver a speech to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in a video address after the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson. The level of political support from the Netherlands is very high. But what do ordinary people in your country think about the war in Ukraine?

From the very beginning, I strongly believed in Ukraine’s victory. And with me, all my friends and acquaintances as well as all my students understood that Ukraine is not just fighting for its statehood. It is defending the world order. And if so, then Ukrainians are protecting us, the Dutch, as well as other peoples of Europe, defending their freedom as well.

When and under what conditions can Ukraine win?

Not ‘can’ but ‘must’! Not only your country, but the whole world has no choice: Russia must be defeated! The end! No two ways about it. At first, this war was more like World War II with its grand military operations and rapid advancements. But now, almost four months later, it is increasingly reminiscent of the positional battles of World War I. Now both armies are so exhausted that they can no longer carry out global military manoeuvres, and the situation has reached a stalemate. I think the key figure in all this mess is Putin, and when he dies, and that, given what he has done, could happen very quickly, the war will end. After all, Russia loses in all respects as a result of it, and grabbing Ukrainian territories will only deepen its loss. Putin’s successor is unlikely to suffer from the imperial syndrome. After the death of dictators, their place is usually taken by much more moderate figures. Compare, for example, Stalin and Khrushchev, who, although part of the tyrant’s inner circle, was far from being a favourite in the struggle for his throne.

The Netherlands handed over 200 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 4 Panzerhaubitze self-propelled howitzers and 7 fire trucks to Ukraine. Do the Dutch support increasing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine?

Many people around the world believe that every country should help Ukraine with everything it can, including weapons. The Netherlands are no exception. Another thing is that there are countries like Germany, which due to their own context are terrified of being involved in any war. There are also those corrupted by Russian money. However, even these countries are slowly changing their position.

The Ukrainian media reported on the artillery shells that came to Ukraine from the Netherlands with inscriptions ‘Wraak voor MH17’, ‘Revenge for MH17’. How come the trial over the Dutch Boeing shot down by the Russians in 2014 has been going on for so long?

I agree that the investigation of this case will be very difficult, primarily because of the position of Russia, which did everything to obstruct it. And now it is deliberately delaying the process, blaming the Ukrainian army for everything. The delays are also due to the fact that the decision must be supported by all possible evidence so that Russia cannot challenge it.

In 2015, the Dutch voted in a referendum against the Association between Ukraine and the EU. Has their opinion changed now?

Personally, I am against referendums in general. In reality, this is a rather absurd thing, because people usually do not understand and do not want to understand anything, and yet they do make a choice, looking up to their neighbours or some experts. Or worse, they make a random choice. In 2014, the Dutch were told, “It is not about Ukraine. Do you need additional rules in the European Union?” Most answered with a resounding no. As a result, it turned out that the Netherlands voted against the Association between Ukraine and the EU. But the real sentiments are different. By the way, a similar thing happened with Brexit. The law of random numbers was more relevant there than common sense.

Ukrainian authorities are working hard to get a candidate status for Ukraine, but Mark Rutte unexpectedly said last month that ‘it is unlikely to happen soon’. How do you feel about his words?

Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is not an easy task, because Ukraine is larger than France, and its population is about 40 million people. It is not easy to include such a state in the EU quickly, so it must be done gradually. When Poland joined the European Union, it basically rebuilt it for several years: repairing its roads, making huge contributions to its infrastructure, etc. But Ukraine is bigger than Poland, so not everyone in the European Union wants to rebuild it, especially given the level of corruption and destruction caused by the war. However, I personally believe that your country should join the European community as soon as possible. I am also convinced that Ukrainians can already be given the opportunity to work in the EU so that they can earn money for their families. So do not jump to conclusions. Ukraine will definitely be in the European Union, but it will take time.

Vadym Koopmans, Laurent’s son:

As soon as I saw the news of the war in Ukraine, I realised that I must help the country I consider my second home. My mother is Ukrainian, I have relatives in Ukraine, and I often visited them. It would be best if I went to fight for Ukraine. Weapons are my hobby, and I know how to handle them. However, I understand that this is not enough to take part in serious hostilities. I have already started to improve my physical fitness and, as much as possible in our country, have improved my weapon skills. I would very much like to acquire military skills in the Dutch army, but I do not know if this will be possible. After all, I am currently studying at the university, and I would prefer not to change my civilian profession to a military one. I can also be useful to Ukraine in other ways. I am going to be a product designer, designing everything from rooms to streets. So if I can’t get to the war, I will rebuild Ukraine after it.