The invasion, devastation and mass murder that Vladimir Putin is imposing on Ukraine must be stopped to prevent more deaths, more displaced refugees fleeing for their lives, and the destruction of homes, infrastructure and historical buildings.
Putin must be stopped to allow those living in Ukraine, some whom I know due to living in Poland for over 20 years and traveling to multiple cities in the country, to return to their normal lives.
Olga, her mother and two cats from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city that's 25 miles from the Russian border in far northeastern Ukraine, have survived the Russian bombings by sheltering underground in the subway system or the basement of their apartment building.
After more than a week of increasing attacks, they were able to escape to a town 850 miles away in southwestern Ukraine near the Slovakian border, where they were staying in a refugee building.
Olga didn't know if they should stay there or cross the border. On the one hand she was hopeful Putin would leave soon so they can go back to Kharkiv, but on the other she wanted to be safely out of Ukraine if the war continued. Like most refugees, they just wanted to return home to rebuild their lives in their hometown.
"Yesterday was a long day," Olga told me. "We crossed the border, took a bus to Kosice and then a six-hour train to Bratislava. We're staying in a nice apartment now. At least, we'll spend some time here to understand what to do or where to go.
"I haven't seen anything here yet;, will explore something today. But for sure, leaving Ukraine like that was very sad."
My Hot Springs childhood pastor and his wife have lived in Kyiv for over 20 years, having started a Bible church and college there. They own a home in the countryside but were convinced by their parishioners and students to abandon it and leave Ukraine.
After 40 hours of traveling, including walking the last two miles to the border in sub-freezing temperatures, they crossed into Romania and flew to Texas. Many of their flock and students in Kyiv have been forced to abandon their apartments due to bombing and artillery attacks.
Two Ukrainian friends in Odesa decided to move their families out of Ukraine. One has been living in the U.S. and helped her remaining family still living in Odesa to escape. Another friend moved herself and her family to Romania. They are the lucky ones, as Russia appears to be preparing for an all-out assault of Odesa and the Black Sea region, an important nautical link.
An American friend with his Ukrainian wife and daughter were flying from the U.S. back to their home in Odesa via Warsaw, Poland. While they were in Warsaw, Putin attacked Ukraine, so they are staying in Warsaw until they can return to Odesa. It's fortunate for them that their flight wasn't one day earlier, or they would be trying to escape Ukraine now.
Another American friend and his Ukrainian wife live in Austin, Texas. They wanted to get her sister and mother out of Ukraine, but the mother is ill and likely could not survive such a treacherous and exhausting exit, so they are at the mercy of Putin.
Lena, a Belarusian, is illustrative of Putin's destruction even on people outside of Ukraine. Belarus is a puppet state of Putin's and is allowing Russian forces to invade Ukraine's northern border. Like so many Belarusians seeking a better life and knowing it is not possible in Belarus, Lena wants to live and work in the West. After five years of trying, she finally received notice from Poland that she could get a legal residency permit and was planning to move to Poland on March 16. Those plans are off the table for now.
With all the negative news, I am heartened by friends in Poland and the U.S .who are helping Ukrainians:
Maciej in Warsaw has allowed a family of five, none of whom he knew, to move into his house because a Ukrainian cleaning lady he knows asked him if he could help.
Adam in Lodz took in a Ukrainian refugee family, even though he already has a full house of his own.
Many other Poles are doing the same or donating clothes, food and other necessities. A Ukrainian refugee will move into my condo in Warsaw while I am in the U.S.
Misha, a Ukrainian American living and working in San Francisco, donated sales from his business, MediThrive, to be sent to Ukraine. He painted the outside of his downtown building in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag. His parents and brother are still in Ukraine, so this is very personal to him.
What will stop Putin? Will it be a coup d'état by the Russian military or oligarchs, a revolution by enough Russians who have access to open media to understand what Putin is doing to Ukraine and Russia, increasing economic sanctions by most countries in the world, U.S./NATO military supplies/support and possible direct military action, the Ukrainians forcing Putin out of their country after many years of bloody resistance, or a combination of two or more of these?
Putin's actions and state of mind may be compared to Hitler's in that both stewed for decades over their personal humiliation and grievances; Hitler with Germany's defeat in WWI and Putin with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Putin was a KGB spy in Dresden, Germany, when the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989 and had to retreat to St. Petersburg (formerly Stalingrad) in 1990. Both men internalized these defeats and openly spewed their nationalistic, racist, antisemitic rants to anyone that would (or was forced to) listen.
Both men told us what they wanted to do and would do for years and were ignored or tolerated by most, including the U.S. Both were emboldened by the lack of unity and resistance from the West.
Hitler invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia. With no forceful organized resistance he invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, wherein the UK and France finally declared war--thus the official start of WWII. Still the U.S. stayed on the sidelines until Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The next day the U.S. formally entered WWII.
Putin may interpret the lack of direct military confrontation to date from the U.S. and NATO after his invasions of Georgia, Ukraine's eastern provinces and now all of Ukraine as a green light to take more--perhaps Moldova, a non-NATO/non-EU country bordering Ukraine that was part of the Soviet Union.
He may also think he can invade smaller former Soviet states like the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, even though they are now part of NATO and the EU. He may think they are so small that the West, like with Ukraine, will not risk starting a nuclear war over them.
Putin would love to take the Baltic countries as they are the bridge between northwest Russia and Kaliningrad, part of Russia between Poland and Lithuania. This would also give him much more access/control of the Baltic Sea. Time and the actions of the West will determine what he does.
Who will stop Putin? "I need ammunition, not a ride"--Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Brian Burrough, a Hot Springs native, has lived and worked in Poland for more than 20 years as a commercial real estate developer and asset manager. He has traveled extensively in Europe including Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.