Bad Bunny, the Obamas in the jungle, Epstein and his island — It’s so easy to forget Ukraine when every news cycle dishes up something to entertain, enrage, or disgust us. The Ukraine story, meanwhile, plods along in the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Most days, we hear either of incremental gains by Russia, a few more Ukrainians dead, talks that end in “progress” without bringing us closer to the end, or all of the above. Boring, right? So why do I keep coming back to Ukraine when the news has already moved on? It’s simple. It will still be with us hundreds of news cycles down the road, unless the Global Good Guys up their game.
The numbers are sobering: tens of billions of dollars each year just to keep the country on a lifeline. Not to rebuild or invest but for guns, aircraft, ammunition, and whatever countries can do to keep its people from freezing while Russia targets yet another heating plant in the coldest winter in decades. But the Ukraine war is yesterday’s news, or so it seems. And it’s being rewritten. The early months had a sense of urgency and moral clarity about who the aggressor was. Now, in the age of alternate truths, that clear line has blurred.
And yet the stakes haven’t changed. If anything, they’ve grown. A Ukraine left to fend for itself sends a message far beyond Europe about what aggression can get away with. A Ukraine that holds on and rebuilds becomes a symbol of resilience, in a world where the country that used to be emblematic of democracy now turns to threats and force.
Yes, governments get distracted. Budgets tighten, and when voters aren’t captivated by the news of the day, they ask where their tax money is going. Yet, we must recognize that some news matters beyond one day. Russia’s aggression on Ukraine is one of them.
And if the world wants a future where borders aren’t decided by force, then clicking to another channel isn’t an option.
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