24/02/2026
Today marks the beginning of the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For context, the United States’ participation in World War II lasted three years and ten months. Ukraine is fighting for a principle, the right of a country’s people to choose their government, their laws, and their way of life, that countless American service members also pledged and fought to defend.
Ukrainian soldiers are dying, and Ukrainian civilians are suffering, in a struggle that has shown the world the folly of believing egoistic strongmen like Vladimir Putin. They have unambiguously demonstrated that meeting aggression with force, not appeasement, is the only path to preserving freedom. They have bought time for other countries threatened by Russian expansionism and duplicity - including the United States - to reassess and rearm.
We owe Ukraine our gratitude and support. Instead, the current U.S. administration has cut off military and financial aid, cozied up to the war’s aggressor, Vladimir Putin, and attempted to force Ukraine to sue for a cease-fire on Russia’s Terms: an unmistakable analogue to anyone who remembers history of the pressure on Czechoslovakia which forced them to surrender their territory to N**i Germany at the Munich Conference in 1938, whetted Hitler’s appetite for conquest, and thereby led to global war.
Today, on this unfortunate anniversary, it’s important for U.S. officials to recognize that resuming aid to Ukraine is an American imperative. Not only is this an affirmation to the world’s potential aggressors that we will defend democratic (and American) principles, but it is the surest way to prevent the necessity of expanding American military cemeteries overseas.
