For weeks there had been warnings: Russian troops are massing near the border. President Vladimir Putin intends to seize control of Ukraine. The invasion is coming. Be ready.
But how could that be possible? It had been generations since most anyone in this part of the world had heard the thunder of invading tanks. This was the age of McDonald’s, of Netflix. For many Ukrainians, it simply seemed impossible. Even President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, now the unshaven, T-shirt-wearing leader who rallies his people from fortified bunkers, said in late January that the threat seemed no worse than a year earlier.
