It is slightly hard to believe that, a week ago, the idea of war between two nations on the European continent was hard to credit, despite Russian provocation. And here we are, with an almost entirely united Europe doing everything it can short of actually fighting. That might not be so far away, given all the evidence that we are confronted by someone who thinks that, if he keeps pushing, we’ll crack. So far, it seems as though Vladimir Putin is wrong about that.

We’ve also learned that, in an age of instant reportage where anyone with a smartphone can be their own journalist, it’s hard to control the narrative in the way that authoritarians always need to do, especially in a developed country with widespread mobile phone coverage. And cyber-war can be fought by both sides and, more difficult to counter, by anonymous individuals from bedrooms in the suburbs of distant cities.

We’ve been reminded that, whilst a leader can fool themselves that right is on their side, eventually, the men and women sent to die on their behalf may conclude that their sacrifice is far from noble. The uncorroborated evidence of young Russian conscripts surrendering amidst suggestions that they were mislead as to what they were doing and to whom suggests that their military leadership are complicit in war crimes.

And, finally, we’ve learned that, in defence of their homeland, the people of Ukraine are united and determined in a way that sceptics didn’t believe possible. Russian speakers were thought to be susceptible to persuasion that their future lay in a “Greater Russia”, and yet they appear to have as willing to fight for Ukraine’s freedom as anyone. Regardless of the short-term outcome, the idea that Russia could pacify forty-four million people without a massive, and expensive, military presence now seems improbable at best.

These are serious times, requiring serious leadership. And whilst the Conservative Party and its coterie of apologists appear compromised by Russian money in a way that Labour politicians were traditionally accused of going back as far as the 1920s, it’s reassuring that Liberal Democrats are demonstrating their commitment to the international rule of law and using our contacts across the continent to rally support for the beleaguered government and people of Ukraine.

I occasionally include a music video in my editorial pieces, and today is no exception. So, my friends, please be upstanding for the National Anthem of Ukraine…

* Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and a member of the Party’s Federal International Relations Committee.