As Ukraine’s defense falters amid wavering commitment in Washington, the country’s defenders depict its fight as a front-line defense for the rules-based order. If Ukraine falls, the logic goes, so too does the liberal order. Such concerns are valid. Russian President Vladimir Putin makes little secret of his disdain for liberalism and his desire to reconstitute the Soviet empire.

Ukrainians fight for not only democracy and political freedom but also religious freedom. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was born Jewish. Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov is a Muslim. Other Cabinet members and army leaders are Ukrainian Orthodox or Catholic. In Kyiv and across Ukraine, there is separation of religion and state.