Support for Ukraine is the one thing which seems to bind us together and is the only policy on which all major political parties agree. It is not in our British nature to accept bullies or threats. Before the Russian invasion most of us only knew Ukraine as next in alphabetical sequence to the UK! 1,000 years ago Ukraine was a major power. It has always been a dominant producer of grain, and Kyiv was established long before Moscow,

Recent history starts with the dark story of the Holodomor, in which nearly 4 million Ukrainians died of starvation when Russia took all the grain to alleviate the wider Soviet famine between 1930 and 1933. Ukraine had formally declared independence in 1917 but was absorbed into Soviet Russia with nuclear weapons stationed there until regaining independence in 1991. Ukraine signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1994 with assurances from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom to respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and existing borders.

24th February 2022 is easy to remember, 24/2/22!! An overwhelming armoured column drove south from Belarus heading to Kyiv. However, the troops in the column didn't know what they were doing, just following orders from above, while Ukrainians knew exactly what needed to be done, with or without orders! A retired Royal Marine told me that a tank commander's worst fear is well equipped infantry, and we British quickly helped them get well equipped. Armoured troops in woodland with a chaotic supply chain were vulnerable, hungry and defeated.

Ukraine's own politics had been turbulent. A young comedian gained popularity from a series lampooning politicians entitled 'servant of the people'. He ran for President, using that as his party name, winning 75 per cent of the second ballot in 2019. So we all came to recognise Volodymyr Zelenskyy, not as a manoeuvring politician, but as a bright and articulate man that his people supported, though making mistakes as leaders do!

Details of the last few years of the war in Ukraine are fully reported, though maybe not highlighting the importance of shipping in the Black Sea to export Ukraine's grain. This is fundamental to feed people in many other countries and key to Ukraine's economy. We rightly worry about villages won or lost in eastern Ukraine, but Russia is slowly losing its grip on the Black Sea, while Ukraine is getting better at drone warfare, including boats.

We British have provided support from our own depleted military stores and have accepted refugees into our society. Our German and French friends have had political ups and downs in their policies. Germany had an early reliance on Russian gas for industry and the French tried to work the historic link between Paris and Moscow to negotiate. More recently the Americans spectacularly delayed military supplies for six months, causing a crisis for Ukraine, while wrangling over US domestic policies.

The troubled world in which this UK election is being fought may be totally changed by the US election in November. Ukraine could find itself supported only by the UK, Baltic and Scandinavian countries. Our freshly elected government could find itself thrust into a leadership role with an isolationist United States sitting on its hands!

We have been there before, in 1939. Our attitudes then are mirrored in the comedy Dad's Army, just as Ukraine now has its President, 'servant of the people', fortunately not a joke!