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TONIGHT, A SOMBER REFLECTION ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE AS IT ENTERS ITS THIRD YEAR. THANKS FOR JOINING US AT SIX. I’M SHERI FALK IM GUY RAWLINGS. SINCE RUSSIA INVADED ON THIS DAY THREE YEARS AGO, THE UNITED STATES HAS PLAYED A PART IN GETTING UKRAINE THE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO KEEP FIGHTING. ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, THE U.S. HAS INVESTED NEARLY $66 BILLION INTO UKRAINE’S SECURITY. THIS ON TOP OF ANOTHER 600 MILLION IN FUNDING THEY RECEIVED BETWEEN THE START OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO START OF THE WAR. HOWEVER, FUTURE FUNDING EFFORTS REMAIN UP IN THE AIR. LAST WEEK, TOP U.S. OFFICIALS MET WITH THEIR RUSSIAN COUNTERPARTS IN SAUDI ARABIA TO DISCUSS ENDING THE WAR. HOWEVER, THOSE CONVERSATIONS DID NOT INCLUDE UKRAINIAN LEADERS UNTIL A SEPARATE MEETING LATER IN THE WEEK. THIS IS A HARD TIME FOR THOSE WHO SPENT THE SUMMER OF 2022 WAITING ON THE RETURN OF TWO PRISONERS OF WAR. ALEX DRAKE AND ANDY WINN, CAPTURED IN JUNE OF 2022 WHILE FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE, SPENT MONTHS IN CAPTIVITY BEFORE BEING RELEASED THAT SEPTEMBER AS PART OF A PRISONER EXCHANGE. �������� 13 LISA CRANE CAUGHT UP WITH ALEX DRAKE TODAY, REFLECTING ON THE LAST THREE YEARS AND WHY HE BELIEVES THE U.S. NEEDS TO DO MORE TO HELP UKRAINE. ALEX DRAKE SAYS HE’S STILL DEALING WITH THE TRAUMA OF BEING IMPRISONED AND TORTURED FOR MONTHS IN A RUSSIAN PRISON. BUT HE’S A MAN WITH A MISSION. ONCE I REGAINED MY STRENGTH AND WAS ABLE TO COME TO TERMS WITH WHAT HAD HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, I AGAIN FELT MOTIVATED TO GO BACK TO UKRAINE AND HELP OUT BECAUSE THIS WAR IS NOT OVER. DRAKE HAS BEEN BACK TO UKRAINE TWICE SINCE HIS RELEASE IN A PRISONER EXCHANGE. HE’S NO LONGER ON THE FRONT LINES, BUT HE’S DOING WHAT HE CAN TO HELP UKRAINE STAY A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY. HE SAYS THREE YEARS IS A LONG TIME TO FIGHT. UKRAINIANS ARE TIRED AND HE FEELS LIKE AS AN AMERICAN, HE OWES THEM AN APOLOGY. IF WE HAD GIVEN UKRAINE WHAT IT ASKED FOR, WHEN IT ASKED FOR IT, THIS WAR WOULD HAVE ENDED IN SPRING 23. THE REASON THEIR COUNTEROFFENSIVE FAILED IS BECAUSE WE DIDN’T GIVE THEM WHAT WE PROMISED TO GIVE THEM. HE SEES PARALLELS BETWEEN THE WAR IN UKRAINE AND WORLD WAR TWO, AND HE SAYS THAT IS CONCERNING RIGHT NOW. UKRAINE IS CZECHOSLOVAKIA. IN 1939. AND. CZECHOSLOVAKIA FOUGHT BACK HARD, BUT THEY DID NOT GET THE SUPPORT OF THE WORLD. SO THEY FELL. AND AFTER THAT, HITLER GOT EMBOLDENED AND INVADED POLAND. UKRAINE IS GOING TO BE THE SAME. IF UKRAINE FALLS, PUTIN’S GOING TO BE EMBOLDENED AND HE’LL GO FOR MOLDOVA. HE’LL GO FOR TRANSNISTRIA, HE’LL GO FOR THE BALTIC STATES, AND THEY’LL GO FOR POLAND. ONE LOOK AT JRUE HOME, AND YOU CAN SEE HIS SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE AND ITS PEOPLE. HE WEARS THE VYSHYVANKA, THE TRADITIONAL UKRAINIAN SHIRTS THEY GIFTED HIM WHEN THEY DECLARED HIM ONE OF THEIR OWN. A UKRAINIAN, HE SAYS HE ACCEPTS THAT UNOFFICIAL TITLE AS HE CONTINUES TO WORK TO PROTECT THAT COUNTRY. IT’S A GREAT COUNTRY AND I REALLY WOULD HATE TO SEE IT DISAPPEA