As I write this, the war in Ukraine has taken a serious turn.
Russia has bombed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility in Energodar, Ukraine; Energodar is approximately four hours northeast of Kherson, the Black Sea port city the Russians took over yesterday. According to the mayor of Energodar, parts of the facility are on fire and firefighters are unable to reach the blaze.
More than a million residents of Ukraine have already fled for countries to the west, including Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, and the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
They left quickly with only what possessions they could carry. Many walked great distances to get to trains, one of the remaining reliable forms of transportation as access to petrol is nearly nonexistent. Food is in short supply as well.
The hardest thing, for ordinary observers and the media, has been to watch what is happening and be unable to help.
Because Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States is not bound by the treaty’s Article 5, which states that an attack on one NATO nation is an attack on all NATO nations. But as NATO was created to create a bulwark of western nations against the Soviet Union - and later, Russia - and Ukraine is battling Russia - many Americans are conflicted.
President Joe Biden is right - the last thing the US needs is a shooting war with Russia. And we are helping Ukraine by providing weapons and supplies, and by deploying troops in NATO countries along Ukraine’s border.
But the US and other NATO nations are essentially leaving Ukraine to fight Russia alone. Ukraine is blessed with a leader who has risen to the occasion and continues to inspire and support his people. Volodmyr Zelenskyy has remained in Kyiv - and remained visible - walking the talk of a true leader.
But the Ukranian military is dwarfed by that of Russia. And the extraordinary courage and moxie of the Ukranian people does have limits.
So what do we do?
Now that Russia has bombed a nuclear power facility, the question takes on a new dimension. Radiation travels. If radiation travels to, say, Poland, does that constitute an attack on Poland? Is the US permitted to provide medical assistance and radiation remediation to Ukraine - or will that be considered an act of war?
Ukraine (along with Moldova and Romania) have requested emergency admission to the European Union, which will help economically. But admission to the EU is not guaranteed - and admission to NATO is even more complex. In the meantime, Ukrainians are facing the wrath of Vladimir Putin (although his soldiers seem much less enthusiastic about killing Ukrainians, according to several reports).
We keep returning to the question - what do we do?
What do you think?