While the ever-rising cost of food, gas and so many other items in this country is surely very painful (all while large corporations, and oil companies in particular, are unashamedly raking in record profits), I am sure that the people in Ukraine would trade places with us in a nanosecond. It will take an effort comparable to the Marshall Plan to put Ukraine back on its feet.

But whatever the short-term costs, Putin must not be allowed to prevail in Ukraine. It is surely in our interest to prevent his success.  As a member of the Ukrainian parliament stated when the Russian invasion began, Putin is the Hitler of our time. And as the saying goes, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

I will be interested in seeing how long the current sanctions against Russia will last. It seems only fair that the effects of Russia’s aggression will be as long-lasting in Russia as in Ukraine.

The lies propagated by the Kremlin news apparatus to justify invading Ukraine, the continuing lies during the war to manipulate Russian public opinion, as well as government censorship, making it a crime for independent Russian news agencies to report the facts on the ground in Ukraine to Russian citizens, has made me appreciate more than ever the importance of a free press to a democratic society.  Indeed, I cannot imagine how a free and democratic society can be created or sustained without a free and independent press.

Fernand LaRochelle

Augusta

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