ODESSA, Ukraine — Odessa was the pearl of the Black Sea. It still is. Life goes on, but the signs of war are also present. The art museums are open but boarded up against the threat of missile and drone strikes. Every apartment building, school, and hotel has bomb shelters. Restaurants inform their patrons where to go if the air raid siren goes off. Ukrainians know well that whatever the Russian propaganda may be, Russia directs its attacks against civil infrastructure and symbols of culture. Washington pundits may debate the war in sterile, political science jargon, and many within the Trump administration might embrace moral equivalence if outright apologetics for Russian aggression, but Ukrainians see that they face an army of annihilation. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s own writings and speeches make this clear.

This reality makes much of the Washington debate seem unhinged, if not malicious. So too does the hypocrisy. Opponents of supporting Ukraine suggest both Moscow and Kyiv are insincere. Election postponement demonstrates Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky’s dictatorial tendency, the argument goes. Republicans argue that Zelensky’s postponement of elections suggests he is an aspiring autocrat rather than a sincere democrat. By that standard, Winston Churchill, who rallied the British in their darkest hour, would be a Putin-esque dictator, too; a nonsensical argument.