I haven’t been writing much about the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere. There’s enough news coverage that I doubt you really need to hear what I have to say.

Still, today marks the two-year anniversary of what the experts expected to be a four-day war. Russia with all its military might, has not yet managed to conquer Ukraine. But is it only a matter of time?

We live in an age where instant gratification is the norm. Our attention spans have been shortened, which is not good news for Ukraine as media reports suggest that support for the cause is flagging in some countries. Which is not good news for the side of democracy in a conflict that is far from over.

The Russians are banking on the short Western attention span as a key component of their hoped for victory. The are gambling that western countries, the ones Ukraine relies on for weapons and moral support, have no appetite for a long war. Already there are rumblings about the wisdom of supporting Ukraine.

Interestingly, I saw a Twitter feed from a Canadian politician to mark this date, reiterating his support for Ukraine. I scrolled briefly through the hundreds of comments and didn’t notice any supporting his position. Which had me wondering.

Given Canada’s demographics and the general support for Ukraine in the past, the absence of agreement in this case has me wondering about a Russian disinformation campaign. Like an Egyptian election where one candidate got 97 per cent of the vote, it just strikes me as suspicious. Are Canadians smart enough to know when they are being manipulated?

Vladimir Putin knows that his country is big enough to withstand a long war. Napoleon and Hitler discovered that invading Russia was not a smart move. Ukraine, with no desire for conquest, has resisted the urge to march to Moscow and been content with a defensive stance. But that too is wearing.

Wars can drag on for years and decades, but today’s generation doesn’t have that lived experience, at least not in the western countries that have been supporting Ukraine so far. Vladimir Putin is counting on war weariness leading to a lessening of resolve.

I hope he is wrong, just as he was wrong about a quick victory. The international rule if law depends to a large part on smaller countries feeling that they won’t be swallowed up by larger neighbors. Putin’s Russia has already annexed, Crimea, parts of Georgia, and a couple of other places. His actions are eerily reminiscent of another European dictator back in the 1930s.

It too a lot of effort to stop Adolf Hitler back then because most people didn’t take him seriously. I wonder if the same holds true with Vladimir Putin as this war drags on and the costs mount.

The longer you wait to stop a dictator, the more expensive it gets in terms of money and manpower. Those who are suggesting Canada and other nations should let Ukraine fight its own war need to spend more time studying history.