Don’t Desert Ukraine in this Hour

Time flies by so quickly these days that it’s hard to believe that last Saturday marked the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s not exactly the kind of event that calls for celebration.

I may have been more attuned to the Feb. 24 occasion than others because of growing up with an ever-present consciousness of Ukraine: my maternal grandfather emigrated from that far-off land to western Canada in the late 1800s.

If that familial tie wasn’t close enough, my mother’s oldest sister married an immigrant from Ukraine. He had escaped the homeland in 1915, just two years before the Bolshevik revolution that marked the beginning of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

What so often seems to be missing from modern accounts of the USSR is what an abject failure it was, cratering under the weight of its godless corruption and failed statism. What’s more, Ukraine wasn’t part of the USSR voluntarily, but forced into the collective.

If that weren’t insult enough, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin carried out a pogrom of forced starvation in 1932 that killed three million Ukrainians. Another 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews would die at the hands of Nazi occupiers during World War II.

Standing to Fight

Given their country’s history of oppression and abuse from its neighbors, Ukrainians decided they had had enough when Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops across the border in 2022.

While Putin may have thought his weaker and smaller foe would roll over, that didn’t happen. Ukraine required all able-bodied men 60 and under to remain in the country to fight for its future.

And yet, despite such brave resistance, the nation could still lose its independence if the U.S. withdraws the vital weapons and monetary support that have allowed Ukraine to maintain the fight.

The fact that the leading resistance to continuing aid has been coming from Republicans in Congress is both lamentable and mind-boggling. Especially since we are on the verge of the 41st anniversary of President Ronald Reagan labeling the Soviet Union an “evil empire” in an historic speech to the National Association of Evangelicals.

When Reagan gave that address, Putin was a foreign intelligence officer in the dreaded Soviet secret police, the KGB. Rather than seeing the collapse of the Soviet empire eight years later as a good thing, I believe he has aspirations of returning to the “glory days,” despite his claims to the contrary.

Ignoring History

Not only are many Republicans turning their backs on the legacy of the president who has been a shining light for many in the GOP, they are ignoring another lesson of history. To dismiss Putin’s brazen attempt to take over a sovereign nation is to ignore similar action by Adolph Hitler that touched off World War II.

In mid-January, the former supreme allied commander in Europe warned that if we don’t do anything differently than we’re doing now, Ukraine will eventually lose. Russia has more people and depth.

Former four-star general Philip Breedlove told Newsweek there is one path forward that will help Ukraine withstand this abhorrent invasion.

“If the West chooses to give Ukraine what they need to win, Ukraine will win this war,” Breedlove said. “This war is going to end exactly how Western policymakers want and desire it to end.”

The threat Russian dominance poses can be seen by various European countries  scurrying to join NATO, for fear they may be next for a Russian incursion. All while some of our representatives in Washington, D.C. appear to have their heads planted in the sand.

We can only hope they wake up in time.