Spotlight on Ukraine

Today, we’re putting a very personal spotlight on Ukraine. The war there has been thoroughly documented and analyzed since Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces invaded the country in February. Now winter is approaching. Ukraine seeks to retake occupied territory. Russia lashes out with missile and drone attacks around the country. Arguments erupt in the U.S. over whether to negotiate with Putin and whether to continue funding Ukraine. And ordinary Ukrainians struggle to live their lives while wanting to defend their homeland.

Oksana Fuk, a young mother with two small children, left for Poland in the early days of the invasion, then quickly returned to her hometown of Ternopil because, she says, “I only feel whole with Ukraine soil under my feet.”

Long Island author Barbara Fischkin, a former Newsday reporter, has known Fuk for nearly 15 years, since Fuk was a counselor at a Catskills sleepaway camp attended by Fischkin’s son. They have kept in touch ever since. Fuk knows all about Long Island’s cul de sacs and beaches but says she must stay in Ukraine, even though a routine day there now includes “buying stuff in case of a nuclear attack.”

Read about life during wartime in this compelling account.

In the meantime, debate roils in Washington about whether to continue aid to Ukraine and whether to seek peace talks with Putin to end the war. Progressive Democrats recently sent a letter to President Biden making the case for negotiations, which, critics claim, undermines the Ukrainians fighting for their homeland. And, columnist Cathy Young writes here, it also gives in to Putin’s blackmail about using nuclear weapons. Young concludes: “But negotiations that reward Russian aggression and illegal land grabs are bad not only for Ukraine but for long-term peace in the region.”

- Michael Dobie