Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, launching a war in specific lands. In 2022 — on February 24 — Russia launched its all-out assault on Ukraine. For the first few weeks, maybe the first few months, people around the world were shocked. Shocked at the savagery and barbarism of Russian forces. Putin’s men were committing atrocity after atrocity: in Mariupol, Bucha, and elsewhere.

But shock always wears off; numbness sets in. In February 2023, Matt Gaetz and other Republican congressmen introduced what they call a “Ukraine Fatigue” bill. It calls for an end to U.S. support of Ukraine.

Very important, I think, is to fight off numbness. People ought to resist accepting the Russians’ savagery as normal. We ought not to yawn and think, “What’s on the next channel?”

An Associated Press report from yesterday begins as follows: “Russia stepped up its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine on Wednesday, killing students and other civilians . . .” Said President Zelensky, “Russia is shelling the city with bestial savagery.” (The city is Zaporizhzhia.) “Residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at.”

Yes.

In a sense, the world’s numbness — the wearing off of the shock; the “new normal” — is one of the things that Ukrainians must fight.

• From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, a report to consider:

• Not everyone is numb. Indeed, one might argue that the West is awake. The prime minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, made a visit to Ukraine. (The “West” is not a geographical term, when it comes to world politics.) The Kremlin wants Ukraine to be isolated. It is not isolated.

While the Japanese PM was in Kyiv, meeting with Zelensky, Xi Jinping, the dictator of China, was in Moscow, meeting with Putin, his fellow dictator. (For a news article, go here.) Kishida and Zelensky, and Xi and Putin, represent two different worlds. Two different paths.

Which is the winning side? Not to go all Whittaker Chambers on you, but really: Which is the winning side? I hope it is not Xi-Putin.

The new president of the Czech Republic is Petr Pavel. The day after he was elected, he placed a call to Zelensky, to assure him of Czech support and solidarity. He then placed a call to the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, to do the same. After this call, Pavel said, “I assured her that the Czech Republic shares the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.”

That’s the side I hope wins.

• Last December, I wrote the following:

In Russia, there is an opposition politician and activist named Ilya Yashin. He is 39. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. His crime? He discussed the massacre of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers in Bucha.

On March 4 of this year, the Kremlin effectively criminalized any criticism of Russian conduct in Ukraine. Many Russians have been imprisoned under this law.

(For the complete article, go here.)

From prison, Yashin has managed to get out a letter. More specifically, he has been able to answer written questions from the Guardian. To read about this, go here.

Everything Yashin has to say is very interesting, on very important topics. I will quote just a little.

The removal of Putin from power, says Yashin, is a prerequisite to “avoiding the risks of a new world war.” He continues,

As long as Putin retains power, war, or at least the threat of war, will be permanent. This man has gone mad from unlimited power and impunity, he has become a slave to his maniacal ambitions.

I have no doubt this is true.

On March 16, Donald Trump, the ex-president and current frontrunner for the next Republican presidential nomination, issued a statement — which begins, “We have never been closer to World War III than we are today under Joe Biden.”

Frankly, I think Putin is the problem, not Biden. Once upon a time, Jeane Kirkpatrick spoke of “blaming America first.” It is now fashionable, and in some amazing places.

• Meet a Ukrainian, Sasha. What a smile, what a girl. May she live the rest of her life in a free and independent Ukraine. May she live in a Zelensky-Kishida world and not a Putin-Xi one. I know a lot of people don’t like this talk. Don’t care.