Three years ago, the forces of the Russian Federation, on orders from the dictator Vladimir Putin, violated the borders of Ukraine with an aerial and ground assault. At the time, I gave the Ukrainians a few weeks, at best, before they were forced to capitulate. I wasn’t cheering for the Russians, but the numbers difference between the two nations, both in military equipment and in manpower, led me to believe that Russia would be able to steamroll its way at least through Kyiv.

I was overjoyed to be wrong. After soundly defeating the Russian airlift into Kyiv, the Ukrainians first held their own, then were able to take back territory in quick, coordinated strikes at key Russian positions. Wise purchases of western gear and training before the war, followed by a flood of western aid since, combined with the will and strength of the Ukrainian people, kept the Russian wolf at bay.

Since then, however, the war has been a meat grinder.

An entire generation of young men and women on both sides is being slaughtered, not to mention the civilians who have suffered and died due to Putin’s criminal methods. War crimes reminiscent of the worst days of the Yugoslav wars happen on a regular basis. While Ukraine has been able to hold the line in most places, and even advance in some unexpected directions, Russia is spending the lives of its young men like water in order to slowly wear down Ukrainian defenses and make progress in critical parts of the front. “The cost of a mile” should have died in 1918, but is alive and well in 2025.

Now, support for Ukraine balances on a knife’s edge. Ukrainians, no matter how brave and dedicated they are, rely on a steady influx of aid from Europe and the United States. The United States is questioning how that aid is spent, not without cause. Even the Ukrainian government admits that pilferage of materiel and funds accounts for a massive portion of what’s been provided.

President Trump, for better or worse, has begun shuttle diplomacy between Ukraine and Russia. His methods, and especially his rhetoric, leave something to be desired, but his goal to end the killing in a way that both sides can live with is to be commended.

Neither side, on its own, will be able to achieve its war aims. Russia can continue to treat the blood of her children and the treasure of her nation as grist for the mill, but for how long? Ukraine, no matter how just her demands that her territory be restored, will never be able to accomplish this militarily.

This war and what has happened in Russia since Putin took power breaks my heart. When I travelled and worked in the former Soviet Union, every young person dreamed of freedom and wealth. Everyone had a hustle, everyone had a plan. Now, I see all of that zeal to make their lives and their nations better squandered through a dictator’s dreams of restoring a corrupt, inhumane empire.

Let us all pray that the war is settled, at least for now, in a way that both sides can live with, and that peace of a kind returns to a land I know to be beautiful and a people I know to be gracious and brave.

In the end, a way must be found to push Russia out of the land she has stolen. Let us also pray that this can be achieved, in time, through peaceful means.

Until then, Slava Ukraini.