No Peace Without Justice: Ukraine, Trauma, and the Lessons We Must Not Forget

“Healing is never born of surrender to harm. It begins only where justice is named, honored, and pursued.” - Mary Coughlin

There’s a dangerous story circulating—that the only way to end Russia’s war in Ukraine is for Ukraine to give up territory. To concede. To “be realistic.”

But that story is a lie.

Russia invaded a sovereign nation. It bombed homes and hospitals. It abducted children. It tortured and executed civilians. And now, after unleashing trauma on a massive scale, it demands to be rewarded with land.

To accept that logic is to normalize harm. And here’s the truth I’ve learned again and again through my work in trauma-informed care: we cannot build healing on top of injustice.

In the NICU, if we tell families to simply “move on” while ignoring the pain of separation, loss, or systemic inequities, we don’t heal them—we wound them further.
In society, if we allow authoritarian violence to be excused as pragmatism, we don’t build peace—we fuel the next cycle of harm.

What happens in Ukraine is not separate from what happens in our hospitals, our classrooms, our communities. It’s the same human story: when harm is minimized, dismissed, or excused, it multiplies.

History already gave us this lesson. Russia took Crimea in 2014. The world largely looked away. Did that end the violence? No—it emboldened Putin to take more. Rewarding aggression doesn’t stop wars. It guarantees more of them.

So no—Ukraine shouldn’t give up territory. Not an inch. Not a stone. Not a single stolen child.

Because peace built on surrender isn’t peace at all. It’s abandonment. It’s betrayal. And it leaves deep trauma not only for those directly affected but for the world that stood by and allowed injustice to become precedent.

Trauma-informed care, whether in the NICU or in global politics, is about something profoundly simple: refusing to normalize harm. Refusing to accept “this is just the way it is.” Insisting that accountability and compassion are not optional—they are the very foundation of healing.

The only path forward is accountability. Russia invaded. Russia must leave.

Because healing—whether for a baby, a parent, a community, or a nation—requires justice.

Reflection Prompt

• Where in your own work or life have you seen harm minimized or normalized in the name of “peace” or “pragmatism”?

• What would it look like to choose justice instead—and what kind of healing might become possible?

With fierce hope and steadfast love,
Mary