By Andy Brack | A huge plume of gray smoke rose after the shattering boom of a Jan. 23 missile attack in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, as commuters drove to work, their headlights of their cars illuminating the snow on the ground.
Three weeks earlier in a video at the same downtown location, Charleston resident Jamie Price was watching Netflix in the wee hours of the morning when air raid sirens squealed frightening warnings of a possible attack, only to quiet moments later.
“People are concerned,” Price said Jan. 2, “considering what happened a few nights ago before I got here, when several missiles hit the city. Even when they shot down the drones with the missiles, of course, they fall and they can do a lot of damage.”
The war in Ukraine isn’t stopping. Russia keeps up pressure in its attempt to thwart democracy and pound an authoritarian hammer on the country. But the people of Ukraine aren’t giving up, despite more than 10,000 civilians killed and military deaths that could be seven times as high, according to informed estimates. (Ukraine hasn’t released figures of casualties.) Russian losses are thought to be even higher.
“There is tremendous stress,” said Price, who recently went back to Kyiv with a third round of medical and other supplies to support a country where the friends he’s made have become like family. “But there is also a tremendous resilience in living life and that’s what they do.”
Americans need to know that Ukrainians are on the real, bloody and violent front line fighting to protect democracy and thwart Russian aggression, he emphasized.
“They– and I’m saying this – will die to the last person to protect their country and their democracy,” Price told us Thursday. “I have not come across anyone who is negative or says anything about stopping the war or backing down. They’re going to proceed until the end when they win – and I know they will win.”
But right now, Ukrainians are worried about having enough ammunition and arms to persist. Fortunately, European countries are stepping up, as the U.S. drags its feet. On Thursday, the European Union approved a $54 billion aid package to keep Ukraine’s economy going.
But, as Price pointed out, “They do know that the U.S. help is very critical because of their capacity to make weapons and ammunition.”
Do something … now
That’s why it’s vital for South Carolinians to let their congressmen and senators know it’s time to stop playing politics with more military aid for Ukraine. For conservative Republicans – mostly those in the U.S. House – tying up Ukrainian aid to a deal on illegal immigration or something else is unbelievable. This strategy will lead to more people dying and will aid Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s effort to injure freedom. Even more to the point: Who would have ever thought that Republicans, the party of Commie-basher Joe McCarthy, would have ever fallen in lock step with anything to empower the Russian tyrant over Ukrainian freedom?
In the U.S. Senate, Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, this week highlighted how not helping Ukraine would help Russia and, ultimately, China.
“[W]hat we’re looking at here is…the struggle between the idea of democracy and the rule of law and authoritarianism and totalitarianism,” King said. “Ukraine is the opening wedge in that…conflict. … [I]f we cut and run in Ukraine, that will change Xi Jinping’s calculus about Taiwan. He’s going to say well, the Americans aren’t going to stick. We don’t have to worry too much about them helping the Taiwanese defend themselves.”
Just like France didn’t abandon the fledgling American colonists during the Revolutionary War, we need to lead all of the allies of democracy by supplying the ammunition and arms that Ukraine needs to win. Remember, they are supplying the lives to protect freedom.
Call your congressman today and tell him or her to stop fooling around. Tell them to support Ukraine, not Putin. The telephone number for the U.S. Capitol is (202) 224-3121.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Well said. Seeing these people first hand completely changes your perception that this is some kind of amorphous, distant problem. It is really time to wake up and get in this fight properly.
Like.