As Russian tanks, backed by air support, rolled menacingly toward Kyiv on February 24, 2022, much of the world expected the Ukrainian government to fall within days, if not hours. Among those who held that view was U.S. President Joe Biden. In his laudable effort to save President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from certain capture, or worse, death, President Biden offered to escort him out of Kyiv.

In a show of extraordinary bravery that will forever be remembered in history, President Zelenskyy declined, choosing instead to stay and fight for his country. He told President Biden in those immortal words: “I need ammunition, not a ride.” His refusal to flee was what galvanized the Ukrainian resistance. Together, government officials and the citizenry have gallantly fought the Russians into a stalemate. The war, which nearly everyone thought would be over within weeks, at most, will soon enter its fourth year.

Unquestionably, Ukraine has come off worse in the conflict. Several of its cities lie in ruins. Its energy and other critical infrastructure have been severely damaged. And then there is the human cost. Hundreds of thousands of its civilians and soldiers have been killed or wounded, and millions more have been displaced, either internally or as refugees in other countries. The Ukrainian economy has suffered grave damage as a result of all that.

That notwithstanding, it hasn’t been a walk in the park for the Russians either. With a combination of Western arms support and unparalleled ingenuity, Ukraine has inflicted its own damage on Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed, and the war has triggered an exodus of some of the country’s best and brightest who left to avoid conscription. Despite having a much larger population, Russia has been struggling to find soldiers. Embarrassingly, Putin was recently forced to issue a desperate plea for manpower help from North Korea. Thousands of that country’s troops are currently deployed on the frontlines against Ukraine. Plunging his country into that senseless war has, clearly, massively weakened Russia.

For much of this past decade, Putin had been the main benefactor of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. He propped up the murderous regime in Damascus and enabled the brutal crackdown on millions of helpless Syrians. When rebel forces seized Aleppo about a week ago, there was widespread expectation that Putin’s soldiers would once again step in to repel them. Shockingly, the response was rather tepid. The dissidents essentially had a free run on Damascus from their point of attack in the north. The capital fell within days, and the best Putin could do for his pal was to offer him a ride to Moscow, where Assad is now sheltering.

The stunning developments of the past week have plainly revealed Russia’s weakness for the whole world to see. It is a picture that should hearten those of us here in the West, and all freedom-loving people around the globe. That Russia is now so enfeebled that it is incapable of supporting odious regimes that commit unimaginable atrocities against defenseless people should be great news to everyone. And for that, we all owe President Zelenskyy a colossal debt of gratitude.

Had Mr. Zelenskyy fled in the initial days of the war, it is almost certain that Putin’s forces would have easily swept through Kyiv. The entire country would have fallen into Russia’s lap in short order. That is what happened in Syria last week when its president chose not to stay and fight. It is also what occurred in Afghanistan in 2021 when President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as Taliban fighters marched on the capital, Kabul.

A rapid fall of Kyiv would have emboldened not only Putin, but also Chinese President Xi Jinping and all of the dictators around the world who have been working assiduously together these past few years to reshape the global landscape. They would like nothing more than to make autocracy the preferred form of governance everywhere. As many analysts have noted, Putin’s struggles in Ukraine have given Xi Jinping pause on his expressed desire to forcefully unify Taiwan and Mainland China. Moreover, a quick victory in Ukraine would have placed other neighboring countries such as Georgia, Romania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at grave risk.

Everyone realizes now that because of the serious threats that autocrats pose to the existing world order, Western nations will need to significantly increase defense spending. Those extra outlays mean that governments will have to cut back on health care, education, and other social programs. Poor countries that have traditionally depended on foreign aid will suffer. By weakening Russia so much through their gallant resistance, the Ukrainians have done the West, and the rest of the world, a huge favor. They have saved us hundreds of billions of extra dollars that we would have had to spend on our militaries if our adversaries were more powerful than they are now.

For whatever reason, there are still a good number of people in this country who don’t seem to recognize the crucial importance of what the Ukrainians have done. Within that ungrateful crowd are several members of the incoming Trump administration. Had the courageous Mr. Zelenskyy and his supremely impressive compatriots not fought back so heroically against Russian aggression, the free world would definitely be in a much worse situation today.