Early and unrealistic hopes for a quick victory by Ukraine's forces over invading Russian troops have faded as the reality of an extended conflict sets in. That has a world already suffering the self-inflicted wounds of pandemic policy dreading the cost of continuing war in terms of poverty, hunger, and bloodshed. That's stressful enough to cause fractures between countries going all-in to support Ukraine and those questioning the wisdom of the effort.
"In the current situation due to Russia's aggression, this will indeed be the most difficult winter of all the years of independence," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his people on June 7, before summer has even started, but in clear anticipation of cold and troubled months to come.
