ODESA, Ukraine — On my way to Europe on Thursday, I watched a video of an emotional exchange between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a 99-year-old World War II veteran in a wheelchair during ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy, France. The vet whipped off his hat, embraced the Ukrainian leader in a bear hug, and exclaimed: “You’re the savior of the people. You’re my hero.
I pray for you.” Zelenskyy, clearly moved, retorted: “No, you are our hero. You saved Europe.
” Perhaps only a veteran of the battle against the Nazis can fully understand the danger to Western democracies of permitting an expansionist dictator like Russia’s Vladimir Putin to get away with gobbling up territory in Europe. Yet, the West may still let that happen. So, I’ve come to Ukraine — via neighboring Moldova, since no civilian airports are operational in the country — and will continue on to Kyiv, the eastern front, and Kharkiv.
All with a specific goal: to assess whether Kyiv can still win the war against Russian invaders. I still believe the answer is yes — followed by a big if. Meantime, here in beautiful, historic Odesa, I’m waiting to hear the missile alert.
Russia fires drones and projectiles nightly into the port city to try to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain that is badly needed in Africa. Ukrainian cities are enduring rolling blackouts as Moscow targets the energy grid, so Odesa has already gone dark, although hotels and .
