For Vasyl Myroshnychenko, going home is always going to be a hell of a trip.

“Overnight, it was just a massive drone and missile attack,” he says, telling how he was jarred in and out of sleep by explosions.

“So it was one of those tough nights.”

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The 44-year-old has been Ukraine’s Ambassador in Australia since March 2022, taking the job in the days after Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded his country.

In the years since, Myroshnychenko has been a regular traveller between his work in Canberra and his long-term home in Kyiv.

I spoke with him by video call in his Kyiv apartment, in the middle of his ninth trip back as Ambassador.

With each trip, there’s news on the war’s toll.

This time, Myroshnychenko learns about a hometown classmate who vanished two years ago.

A DNA test on remains, recently discovered, has only just confirmed his death.

His burial was held two days before my conversation with the Ambassador.

“And he’s got two kids, his wife left behind. And there are numerous stories like that,” he said.

For Myroshnychenko, it’s critical Australians care about Ukraine’s fight to turn back the Russian invasion.

“You’re invested in the deterrence,” he said.

“Russians are conducting joint naval military exercises with Indonesia.

“They requested Indonesia … grant them access to an airfield in Papua.

“How far is Papua from Cairns? It’s just around the corner.

“They wanted to have their strategic bombers.”

He’s referring to the controversy that erupted in April, mid-federal election campaign in Australia, with claims Russia had asked Indonesia to base long-range military aircraft at a military airfield in Papua, North of Darwin.

Indonesia quickly reassured the Albanese Government that any such request would be turned down.

The underlying concern — around Russia’s long term plans in Australia’s region — was left unaddressed.

For Myroshnychenko, Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine tells us all we need to know about its intentions.

Worse, he argues, it is leading the way to anarchy.

“If Russia can get away with what they’ve done because they’ve got nuclear weapons, because they’re a permanent member of the UN Security Council, guess what? Everybody else can do it,” he said.

“What kind of world are we going to live in? Is it a world of a jungle where the might is right? Can Australia survive in the world of a jungle?”

On the state of the war, the Ambassador says he’s optimistic.

“I believe Ukraine is winning,” he said.

Myroshnychenko points to Ukraine’s now infamous “Operation Spider Web”.

About 117 remote-controlled drones were smuggled into Russia over an 18-month period and launched toward prized Russian strategic bombers parked at airbases across the country.

The raid damaged or destroyed roughly one-third of Russia’s long-range strike fleet.

“This is asymmetric warfare. This is what Australia should learn from Ukraine,” Myroshnychenko said.

As Ambassador, Myroshnychenko is regularly promoting deeper contacts between Ukraine’s and Australia’s militaries.

“I hope you never have to fight, but if you do … because you are a smaller country … most likely your enemy will be much bigger, right?” he said.

“War is a mother of innovation. War is driving that change, is driving the transformation, one way or another,” he says.

It’s the silver lining Myroshnychenko sees in his country’s deadly fight with Russia.

“You can assist us, but you can also benefit from us.”

For more from Tim Lester and his interview with Vasyl Myroshnychenko, you can watch their full conversation for The Issue in the video above or subscribe to the podcast here.