Reports that Americans are beginning to soften on supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia are extremely disturbing. It’s been said by many others, but this is a fight for democracy itself.

John Leicester of The Associated Press has explained it well in a story titled, “Ukraine’s year of pain, death — and also nation-building.” A lawyer and former Ukrainian legislator said, “Putin did for us something which nobody did. He helped us to become a free nation.”

Some reports have said support for and against giving U.S. aid to Ukraine is evenly divided. However, a poll by The AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research is different.

On the issue of the U.S. providing weapons to Ukraine, 48% are in favor, 29% are opposed and 22% say they are neither in favor nor opposed. Three months into the war, 60% of U.S. adults said they were in favor of sending weapons to Ukraine.

Sending government funds to Ukraine produced different poll results. Thirty-seven percent were in favor, 38% were opposed, and 23% said they neither favored nor opposed.

Size it up anyway you want and it’s obvious most voter opinions are based on politics. President Joe Biden is a Democrat, so most of them support help for Ukraine. Republicans, especially GOP public officials, don’t have any kind words to say about Biden, so some of them want to start holding back help for Ukraine.

A California GOP voter said, “I am sympathetic for Ukraine’s situation, and I feel badly for them, but I feel like we need to first take care of priorities here at home.” He mentioned migrants crossing into the U.S. at the southern border, a rise in drug overdoses caused by fentanyl and a homeless crisis in his state.

The poll shows 19% of Americans have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to handle the situation in Ukraine, while 37% say they have some confidence and 43% have hardly any confidence.

A 78-year-old Massachusetts woman, a Democrat, said Biden deserves credit for his handling of the war. “As my opinion evolved, I came to wish we had offered more to Ukraine sooner. We seem to have done a drip, drip, drip. I understand why they were hesitant, but we are now beyond that point.”

The war that began on Feb. 24, 2022, was cataclysmic for Ukraine. The AP said it has been course-changing for Russia and history-shaping for the wider world.

The body count, which both sides have kept under wraps, is the most important tally, and The AP said “all that can be said with certainty is that it is horrific.” Western officials estimate it to be in the many tens of thousands and growing in a way that is impossible to stop or prevent.

Despite some wavering support at home for helping Ukraine, Biden vowed that no matter what, the United States and its allies “will not waver” in supporting the Ukrainians. “Democracies of the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever,” Biden said, adding that the U.S. and allies will “have Ukraine’s back.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and ultra-conservative GOP lawmakers have other ideas. We may find out soon exactly how far they are willing to go to curb weapons and financial help for Ukraine.

A political independent from Virginia who approves of Biden’s handling of the war said Americans get easily distracted, “But if Ukraine goes, what is our attitude going to be when Putin decides to move on and threaten one of our smaller neighboring NATO countries?’

The president of Moldova claimed Moscow was behind a plot to overthrow her country’s government using external saboteurs. The AP said, “China is filing away lessons that could be used against Taiwan. In other words, if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, where does he start another war somewhere else?”

On the positive side, Ukraine has grown as a nation. Ukrainians are ditching Russian for Ukrainian as their primary language. Statues of Russians are also being torn down, street names are being changed and Russian history is being expunged from school textbooks.

Looking at the utter devastation Russia is causing in Ukraine, it’s easy to see why Putin is being accused of crimes against humanity. The wall we saw on the news filled with pictures of Ukrainian men who have been killed in the war and the unbelievable destruction of civilian facilities are sobering examples of what “crimes against humanity” really means.

If Putin wins this war, where does he go next?