An elementary form of apocalypse is genocide.  Russia is making war on Ukraine with the genocidal goal of eliminating Ukrainian society as such.  It consciously fights its war with its own national minorities, and takes every opportunity to spread racist propaganda (including about African-Americans).  Russian occupiers deport Ukrainian children, rape Ukrainian women, castrate Ukrainian men, and murder Ukrainian cultural leaders with this purpose in mind.  They keep children out of school and force families into emigration, all with the goal of putting an end to a nation.  Ukrainian resistance, though, has put the backbone into “never again.”  Where Ukraine holds territory, and that is most of the country, people are saved.  Ukrainians have shown that a genocide can be halted — with the right kind of help. When we cut off that help, as we have done, we enable genocide to proceed.  This is not only a horror in itself, but a precedent.

A great fear of our age is nuclear war, and Russia has used nuclear blackmail against Ukraine.  Russians want Ukraine (and the rest of us) to give up because Russia has nuclear weapons.  Russian propaganda instructs that a nuclear power cannot lose a war.  This is of course untrue.  The U.S. lost in Vietnam, the USSR lost in Afghanistan.  Nuclear weapons did not hold the British and French empires together, or bring Israel victory in Lebanon.  Had Ukraine submitted to Putin’s nuclear blackmail, this would have incentivized every country to build nuclear weapons: some to intimidate, some to prevent intimidation.  Ukrainian resistance has saved us from this scenario — thus far.  Should America abandon Ukraine, we can expect nuclear proliferation and nuclear jeopardy.

Glory to Ukraine!