For Svitlana Romanko, the link between fossil fuels and war is not theoretical. It is painfully and unmistakably real. As an environmental lawyer with more than two decades of experience, and now founder of the Ukrainian campaign group Razom We Stand, she has become one of the clearest and most forceful voices arguing that energy policy is no longer simply about markets or emissions, but about security, sovereignty and human lives.
Dr. Romanko’s work sits at the intersection of climate justice and geopolitics. In the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she helped launch the #StandWithUkraine campaign, calling for an end to the global dependence on fossil fuels that continues to finance the Kremlin’s war machine. She does not speak about energy as an abstract systems issue. She speaks about it as something tied to bombardment, destruction, and the price civilians pay when democracies fail to act as resolutely as the promises their leaders espouse.
Her credentials are formidable, but that is only part of the story. Holding doctorates in environmental and climate law, she has worked with organisations including 350.org and the Laudato Si’ Movement, and helped secure what became the largest fossil fuel divestment by faith institutions on record, worth more than 5 billion euros. She was also selected for the Obama Foundation Leaders Europe programme in 2024, one of just 36 participants in that cohort.
Still, what stands out most is not the credentials. It is the force and clarity of her message. For her, the question is no longer whether Europe can afford to move away from fossil fuels, but whether it can afford not to. We spoke to her about complicity, reconstruction, and why Ukraine could yet help show what a cleaner and more secure future looks like.
Europe has spent nearly four years trying to decouple from Russian energy, yet the easing of sanctions on Russian oil following recent developments suggests that, under pressure, principles can give way to price stability. At what point does this shift stop being pragmatic, and start becoming a form of complicity?
From a Ukrainian perspective, the line is crossed much earlier than many in Europe like to admit. The moment governments or companies choose to keep buying Russian oil and gas, or to relax sanctions that enable those sales, they are helping to refill the very war chest that finances missile strikes, blackouts, and daily terror against our communities. Calling this “pragmatism” does not change the outcome on the ground in Ukraine: more revenue for the Kremlin means more destroyed homes, more injured civilians, more families burying their loved ones.
But after four years of full-scale war, no one can claim ignorance about what Russian fossil revenues are used for. When cheaper alternatives exist – like implementing common-sense efficiency measures and accelerating the transition to cheaper and clean energy that provides real security – then choosing a Russian barrel of oil or easing sanctions is no longer a reluctant necessity. At this point, it becomes a political decision to prioritise private profit to energy majors or political donors over Ukrainian lives and long-term European security. That is the point where “pragmatism” turns into war complicity, and even complicity in supporting Russia’s intensifying war crimes.
“That is the point where ‘pragmatism’ turns into war complicity, and even complicity in supporting Russia’s intensifying war crimes.”
Looking ahead, do you believe Ukraine has the potential to become not just rebuilt, but a global example of a clean, independent energy system, and what would it take to realise that vision?
While the situation today is tragic, it has been said that every catastrophe presents an opportunity. We are in a fantastic position to be a country that actually needs to rapidly build or rebuild an almost completely new energy system. Since clean energy has surpassed fossil energy as the cheapest energy source in recent years, this means that it would only be logical that within a few years after peace comes to Ukraine, we could be a shining global model of what an economically advantageous renewable energy transition looks like.
That this will happen is now clearer than ever. We see the absolute volatility and global destabilisation that happens with international over-dependence on imported fossil fuels. It should be noted that the winners now from skyrocketing oil and gas prices are the petro-dictators of Russia and Iran. Analysis showed that Russian fossil fuel export revenues averaged 510 million euros per day in the week following the first strikes on Iran, 14% higher than previously. This would be enough to buy approximately 17,000 Shahed 136 attack drones every 24 hours, and that is the kind of weaponry these countries are paying for, including with money sent by Europe and the rest of the world.
On the positive side, Europe’s and Ukraine’s energy independence, via domestically available renewables, is a clear solution to this crisis. Free sun and wind are already providing up to 55% of electricity in some European countries, such as Spain, consistently lowering consumer prices. Wind and solar energy sources cannot be stopped at the Strait of Hormuz, or by any nation. Just from the pure economics of rebuilding our energy system, the only logical solution for Ukraine is to do so with renewables.
“Wind and solar energy sources cannot be stopped at the Strait of Hormuz, or by any nation.”
We have had great success quickly with thousands of new high-tech workers who, by necessity, learned electronics and needed to build defensive drones. The factories they work in can be retooled, and those same workers could quickly be making solar panels and renewable electric systems. For us, we are hopeful, and the possibilities for Ukraine are endless. We just need a little more support to keep fighting for peace, and then for this radical vision of a better future.
