"Ukraine has already won the war ... no matter what they do to us." This was the sum total of a message from our Ukrainian friends, Nikolay and Lena on Saturday, March 5. The two, in their 70s, had left their home of 50 years in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine the previous Wednesday when Russian artillery forced them to evacuate. Two of Nikolay's former students had brought their car to take them across Ukraine toward freedom. His message was sent from the town of Uzhgorod on the border with Slovakia.

Meanwhile, the US and NATO are sending military and humanitarian aid. But Germany is the only country to suggest a fundamental change in national direction, in their case, for energy. The US is paying lip service to the calamity, hoping the matter will go away quickly so it can get back to business as usual. If there is a US executive in charge of all official matters to help Ukraine, it is a well-kept secret. The US could announce tomorrow a refugee visa for 100,000 of the half million-plus Ukrainians who have escaped temporarily into Poland, Hungary, Romania, or Slovakia.

Richard Shriver

Old Lyme