Ukraine’s government tells citizens to prepare for a war it used to pooh-pooh

FOR WEEKS now, an invasion of Ukraine has been predicted to occur “in the coming days”. Some prophecies have even had precise times attached: at one point American officials suggested that Russia would go to war at 3am on February 16th. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has spent months pooh-poohing the prospect of war, ended up marking the date as a “day of unity”. Some Ukrainians were even jolly enough to wish one another an ironic “Happy Invasion Day”.As recently as February 22nd Mr Zelensky reiterated, “There will be no war.” That may be the last time he makes such a prediction. Later the same day he called up the Ukrainian army’s 200,000 reservists. The next day he declared a 30-day state of emergency. While that is not martial law, which will be imposed only after a full-blown Russian invasion, it gives the government extra powers to prepare and keep order. Perhaps more importantly, it was the clearest signal yet from the government that citizens should prepare for war. The government also urged all Ukrainian citizens to leave Russia immediately, presumably for fear of attacks on them if hostilities begin.