Are you watching Ukraine defend democracy? Are we doing enough to protect our own?

When did you first feel the leaden weight of Ukraine’s fight to preserve its democracy?

For me, it was the women of Kharkiv. That video of them learning how to use military-style rifles.

Fifty-five-year-old Viktoria Balesina, with her purple hair and Fair Isle-style sweater, vowing never again to speak her native Russian. Fifty-year-old Svetlana Putilina, insisting that if the government provides the weapons, “we will take them and defend our city.” That magazine of ammo tucked into the waistband of an unidentified young woman’s yoga pants.