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Foreign It's Tuesday, February 24, 2026. I'm Albert Mohler, and this is the Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. We simply at this point have to note that today marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The importance of that is something we simply cannot afford to miss. We're talking about the fact that four years ago today, Russia invaded Ukraine. It was a shocking development. Although those who were watching the situation knew that the tensions were escalating, it just didn't seem possible that something like this could happen. This, let's just remind ourselves, was the first major land war in Europe since the end of World War II. And so you're talking about the period from 1945 until just four years ago that something like this was unthinkable. I didn't say it was unimaginable. And that's one of the reasons why during the Cold War, there had been such a face off between the Soviet Union and its allied nations forming the Soviet Bloc or the Eastern Bloc, and then the United States and our allies, most importantly the Western bloc, as it was known, formalized with NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. So we just look at that and you recognize, even though it was very clear that Russia was capable of such a thing, after all, it had basically taken Ukrainian territory roughly a decade earlier when it simply possessed the Crimean Peninsula. At the same time, it didn't seem that it was possible that a massive land invasion on the part of, say, the Russian army into Ukraine was possible. But it is now, of course, a matter of history. And we're talking about the reality now, four years later. Let's just talk about the reality in terms of death. And in terms of death and casualties, Russia has suffered 1.2 million casualties. And by the way, these basically are all dated to December of 2025. So these are not even updated for the last several months. But as of the close of the previous year, Russia has suffered about 1.2 million casualties, and that includes about 325,000 deaths. Now, just think about that for a moment. 325,000 deaths in Ukraine, something like 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties and up to about 140,000 deaths. But we are talking about Russia now having a population that is a multiple of Ukraine. And so even as Russia has the larger casualties and the larger death toll, 325,000 over against 140,000, it's a much higher percentage when it comes to the percentage of the casualties and deaths on the Ukrainian side, because this is a very, very dark anniversary. And it is a dark anniversary, the four year anniversary, precisely because it's not over. And even though you've had very important efforts to try to bring a negotiated settlement and the end of military hostilities, it hasn't happened. And I don't think most honest people think it's on the horizon. And it is, because as you look at the political reality and the civilizational reality, there's a lot more here than meets the eye. And so that's where Christians also need to take a, take a look at the civilizational reality. The civilizational reality is that when you look at Ukraine, you're looking at contested territory between the east and the West. And that has been true now for a matter of centuries. And that leads us to understand that in the mind of Russia, Ukraine is a necessary part of what is considered greater Russia. So that's just an honest statement of how Russia thinks. Russia looks to the west and it sees this open, very large plain that has exposed it to invasion over and over again, whether that's Napoleon or Hitler. Russia has always looked for a buffer there in its west. And Ukraine has been largely under Russian control for a large part of the last several centuries. Effectively, it has been a major ambition of Russia to control Ukraine, if not to possess it. Now, just keep in mind how old Russia is as a civilization. It's extremely old. As a matter of fact, we can say that it's at least a millennium old. It is, to make the point starkly, it is a multiple of old when compared to the United States of America. We have a long history. Our constitution is the longest serving written constitution in world history. At the same time, Russia, very different model, very different tradition, very different history, it has a much longer history. Russia also has a very violent history. And a part of it is simply because Russia is such a giant landmass. And it remains nonetheless very vulnerable. It also remains very needy. Russia, just given the terrain of Russia, so much of it is not particularly good farmland. There are no transverse rivers, and you have hostile powers all over the borders of the former USSR and now the borders of Russia. Russia for centuries has faced at least the potential of military conflict just about every single direction it looks. And it's also stumbled into military conflict in almost every direction it can look. I think Christians do have to understand that there are civilizational patterns that are older than the political map. We know, and at least we understand that even you're looking at biblical history. You're looking at the rise and fall of giant Empires and civilizations, whether that be Egypt or Babylonia or Assyria. You just go down the list and you understand, you know, that's the world that gave birth to Russia as we know it. And it's a world that has been inherently violent, a history that has been inherently violent. And Russia is a very different society in so many different ways. For one thing, Russian history has pointed to what the Russians believe is the need for a very strong tsar, emperor, king, president, a very strong central government. And that has been considered rather essential, going all the way back and, of course, to the Russian monarchy. And that includes monarchs such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, who are often remembered in terms of, say, advancements in history during their reigns. But we also need to look at the fact that they were autocrats, and they were bloody autocrats, and they were, at times, murderous autocrats. That's just a part of Russian history. Or to put it another way, we don't have any analogy for any of these figures, really, in all of American history. We're just talking about an extremely different history. We're looking at a different civilizational pattern. And it's just the case. I'm not saying this is the way it should be. I'm simply saying it is the case that Russia has historically seen Ukraine as a part of Greater Russia. The important thing to recognize is that that's not the way Ukraine sees Ukraine. And even as Ukraine has had an independent political existence for only a very small portion of its history, it has a real national pride. It has a real national identity. One of the shocking things that has come to light over the last four years is the fact that Ukraine has acted and proved itself to be a nation with a defined identity and, frankly, with a very deep strain of Ukrainian patriotism. That alone explains why it has been so bravely able to confront an invading force the size of Russia and, frankly, thwart at least the energies of its expanded intentions. But Christians are also reminded that we live in a world in which you have both light and darkness, and you have, in history, both developments that lead to human flourishing and developments that are absolutely the opposite of human flourishing. And when you look at this war, you recognize that over the last four years, the death toll has been horrifying. And not only that, you're also looking at the fact that in Ukraine, the average person in Ukraine is now affected by this war in a more direct way than has been true of virtually no European war since World War II, no European experience since World War II. And even then, you're looking at the fact that this sustained invasion force, which now includes drones and missiles and barrages going after power plants and even hitting schools and homes, this has put all of life in Ukraine under such a dark cloud. And so you have entire families and children whose lives have been affected. And this has changed Ukraine to the extent that if you talk about something like a population of 10 million, several million are basically gone, at least temporarily or perhaps permanently. And you're also looking at others who have been wounded. You're looking at nights in Ukraine bitterly cold, without heat. You're looking at the bravery of a people that, quite frankly, I don't think any Western nations expected. And this really is a development that tells us something about the heart, the conviction, and the patriotic commitment of the Ukrainian people. But here's the hard part. A biblical worldview also reminds us that at least in this world, in this life, in our times, the right side doesn't always win. And right now, you have Russia willing to bleed out in terms of its invasion of Ukraine. You have Vladimir Putin basically staking his entire political reputation on this invasion. You're looking at Russia absorbing all the rather significant sanctions that have been put on it, and frankly, willing to take on the role of something like a criminal outlaw in the modern world. They're so determined to do this. Vladimir Putin is absolutely convinced, by the way. I think politically, his calculation is if he doesn't get what he told the Russian people he was going to get in this invasion, the plausibility of his own regime and leadership begins to fall apart. And in Russia, let me just say there's precedent for a leader in that situation to have a great deal to fear. You've had major international media over the course of the last several days, especially this past weekend, looking at this very tragic anniversary and reflecting on it, the New York Times ran a massive piece basically about how difficult life is now for the average Ukrainian. You talk about women and children and families. Just they're living under an extremely, extremely difficult situation where, quite frankly, they're subjected to bombardment, missiles, all kinds of horrible things, drone invasions, just about any time of the day, any day. And, you know, it's very difficult to maintain any kind of civilization under those circumstances. But Ukraine has basically held itself together. It's an enormous, enormous fact of patriotic will. It should cause all the rest of the world to admire what the Ukrainians have done. That doesn't mean that they win in a fallen world. Here's the sad thing. The good guys don't always win. And even if you do have an end to this horrifying war, say over the course of the next several months or even within the next year. That is not to say that Ukraine remains intact as it was before the invasion. The reality is that that in a fallen world, sometimes aggressors actually do win. And you can have groups such as NATO, you can have allies as powerful as the United States, say that's not acceptable. But you know, there are a lot of things in the world that happen that aren't acceptable. And it is Christian realism to understand in a fallen world, those kind of things are going to happen. That doesn't mean we're satisfied with them. It doesn't mean that we're okay with this. It does mean that the United States itself is not going to war over several miles of territory in Ukraine. It's just not going to do that. And whether the reasons is because that would escalate things to a direct conflict between Russia and the United States, and that invokes two nuclear powers, and the whole rest of the world doesn't want to see that happen. Which is to say, in a fallen world, things get complicated very, very fast. The Guardian, which is basically a leftist paper published in London, came back over the weekend to say that Ukraine is, and these are the words, exhausted, but not broken. And I think that's a pretty accurate description, exhausted. Absolutely exhausted. How could they not be exhausted? Morally exhaust, Economically exhausted, politically exhausted, personally exhausted. How can they not be? But they're not broken. And that's a remarkable thing just in and of itself. The Ukrainian people are not broken. The world, however, just to make the point even more emphatically, is broken and broken by sin. And that means that this kind of thing, yes, sadly, historically, it hadn't happened in decades in Europe, but it has happened now. This is a game changer. It is a wake up call for the entire Western world that we have enemies. And these enemies are actually now reaching the point where they will invade Russia in particular, but Russia won't be the end of it. It reminds me of a statement made by a longtime insider in terms of the national security process in the White House. And as this person said, and he said this in the context of a meeting of historians, he said, you know, by the time an issue reaches the national security director in the White House, it is already by definition, a horrible mess. Another way of putting this is that if you are serving, say, in the national security staff in the White House, you really don't expect someone to come bounding into the room and say, hey, I've Got good news. That's one of the reasons why over the course, especially of the last century, you really do have a growing consensus among Christians about understanding many of these things. It has often been summarized as Christian realism, and that's set over against a form of idealism. Christian realism means you have to deal with the world as it is. And that means you have to face seriously and honestly the world warped by sin as it is. That's the realism part, and it helps to clarify issues immediately. And you recognize, by the way, realism as being very, very important, indeed essential when you hear a statement that is based in something that is unreal or ideal. In this case, in a fallen world, there is nothing that is ideal. So we've got to lean into making the real as righteous and as just as peaceful as possible. But Christians understand that the ideal is not going to come by any kind of a peace treaty or international agreement. The ideal is only going to come with King Jesus, period. Speaking of a fallen world, another big headline that came just yesterday is the fact that the Mexican government has killed El Mincho, considered to be the most dangerous drug lord there in Mexico. And this has come along with an outbreak of violence. And it's violence that is likely to break out even more. And that is because when you are looking at some parts of the world, Mexico is the classic example here. And I don't say this at the expense of Mexico. It's simply true that Mexico right now is one of the classic examples of a government that is rivaled by, challenged by what is effectively a system of criminal syndicates, criminal gangs. And this is not unprecedented in world history. There were times when many of the continents we know now, even when you had vast imperial powers, they were basically threatened by gangs of bandits, usually at the periphery. That's where many of them have operated. And right now you have an enormous economic incentive for these criminal syndicates to be very much at work in their deadly business. And their work is deadly at every dimension. Their product is deadly, most importantly, narcotics. And this is now going back for a matter of decades. And you're looking at the southern border of the United States and the northern border of Mexico being one of the most contested areas in the world in terms of. Of these kinds of criminal activities. I have been in places in the United States, I've been in places in the United States near the border where there would be a beautiful lake, and people would say, you can't really use that lake to go fishing or to go skiing simply because Mexico is right there. And some of the activities going on here are things you should not see, because some of the people who see such things don't live to see much else. You think that's an exaggeration. And yet, no, this is something that in some areas in the border has been very clear. And especially when you go across the southern border, there are entire towns and villages that are effectively under the control of these criminal syndicates. El Minjo, as he was known, was the head of what was known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. And as major media reporting, he was considered one of the country's most violent criminal figures. It is interesting that the Mexican government has taken this action. There's huge pressure from the United States for Mexico's government to take this kind of action. And it's clear that the Mexican government itself is stressed to know at times who's on its own side. Because when you have these criminal syndicates, and this is true, just look at the influx of criminal gangs in other parts and influence of criminal gangs in other parts of the world, where you find out there are people going all the way up the political chain who are found to have links to these criminal organizations. And this is a long standing problem. It was a problem in Russia under the czars. It was a problem very much so in other parts of the world, Especially when you think of organized crime, the Mafia, as it was commonly known in Sicily and in Italy, the political scandals have gone frighteningly close to the highest levels of politics. And in Mexico, this has been one of the issues. And that's why there have been major Mexican law enforcement officials arrested by the United States for alleged criminal conspiracy. And some of this has been proved in court with guilty convictions being involved in these criminal conspiracies. And this is another situation Christians understand. We understand the difference between order and disorder. We understand that disorder is always fighting to take over order in a fallen, sinful world. We also understand that when you add massive financial incentive, that financial incentive leads to the acceleration of every bad thing. And when it comes to narcotics, this is one of the most remarkable things of the last 200 years in Western history. The addition of narcotics with the untold trillions, eventually of dollars involved, that creates a distortion field in which you have all kinds of opportunities for organized crime and for profiteering in this way and for corruption. So another big story, this time from Mexico. The fallout from this is not over, and it's unlikely it's going to be over anytime soon. And furthermore, this is just one of the major criminal masterminds behind Much of this criminal organization. One final thought here. This is a story as old as the Old Testament. Without going into detail, you ask the question, how did law enforcement officials track this man down? Because they hide themselves very effectively. It is because he had a romantic partner, a woman, and following that woman eventually led law enforcement to the man. As I say, that's as old as the Old Testament. Okay, finally for today, a really bizarre story out of Minnesota. And a part of the story is that it's really not being treated seriously by the mainstream media. And so it's the kind of story that I watch for a few days to see who's going to deal with this and who's not, because that becomes a part of the story. In this case, the New York Post has run the mainstream media article. Fox News has also dealt with this issue. The headline coming from the New York Post is, this Trans Minnesota Democrat argues Queer kids need access to porn sites for educational reasons. We're talking here about a legislator in Minnesota, a state representative who goes by the name of Lee Finke. The transgender identified Democrat had gone by a male name before the transition. So, for example, the New York Post reports State Representative Lee Finke, a two term Democrat who identifies as a woman, pushed back against a proposal that would require age checks on porn websites to shield children from accessing raunchy adult material, wildly insisting the bill would be weaponized against the LGBTQ community. Okay, so how could this argument come about? Well, let's go to the legislation, the legislation which is now under consideration in the Minnesota House. It comes down to a bill that would, and this is from a legislative summary quote, require websites where 25% or more of the web pages feature pornography to verify that the person seeking to access the website is 18 or older. Okay, so who could be against that? As a matter of fact, I think most of us would be looking for stronger legislation, even stronger legislation. But you have to start somewhere. And so this starts at 25% or more of the web pages of a site featuring pornography. I'll simply say I think it should be 1% or anything over 0%, but nonetheless, 25% is a place to start. And here you have the restriction so that persons who are under age 18 can't access this material. Now, you would think just about any morally sane individual before this legislation. And the argument against it in this case coming from. And again, the name by which the legislator goes now, State Representative Lee Finke. Well, this legislator came back with an argument saying that this could be discriminatory against LGBTQ Adolescents who are using pornography to find out who they are. That's a straightforward answer. That's just basically what was said. And Representative Finke said, quote, they're almost jubilant, speaking of legislators about being able to use these laws to ban young people from accessing content that could be educational if they are queer. End quote. Boom. Okay, so every once in a while, there's a disclosive statement made, and I think this is the very reason the mainstream media are staying as far away from the story as they possibly can. It is because it explodes the issue right in front of our face. Here you have a defense of pornography as being educational for LGBTQ youth. Now, conservatives have been arguing, Christians have been arguing for a long time, that this pornography is basically often put out in front of children and young people to lure them into LGBTQ identity, behaviors, and lifestyles. And now you have the affirmation of it coming from someone who identifies as a trans legislator. If I came out and said that, you could say that's a conservative Christian saying it. But here is an openly trans legislator coming out and saying, yeah, porn is a part of some of these young people later claiming an LGBTQ identity. Well, I'll simply say, you bet it is. By the way, just doing a little research on this legislator back in August of 2025. That's just last year, the New York Times did decide to give this legislator some attention. Here's the headline. Lee Finke, first transgender woman elected to Minnesota Legislature, is married. End quote. Okay, we gotta go a little further into this. Here's the opening paragraph. Quote, on Saturday, beneath a glowing crystal chandelier in the rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol, one of the world's largest freestanding marble domes. Why that's essential to the story, I don't know. Anyway, back to the story. Quote, Representative Lee Dawn Finke, the first transgender woman elected to the Minnesota legislature, was married to Deborah Marie Fox, a consultant on anti gender based violence. End quote. Well, you got pretty much the whole picture in that paragraph. I want to point to just one issue, and I think this is why I felt like I needed to read that. It is because, at least according to this article, and this gets back to the issue of critical theory called intersectionality. And the article is, you have intersections of different kinds of identity that lead to even deeper cycles of oppression. That's just absolutely crucial to the Marxist variant that we know as critical theory. And so here you have a. Well, let's just look at it. You have a biological man who is now married to a woman, but the biological man now identifies as trans. And so now you have a biological man who is claiming the identity as a woman marrying another woman. Wow. Welcome to Minnesota. I just wanted to say that much so that I think all sane Christian people would go, wow, that's a mess. Well, yes, it is. Thanks for listening to the briefing. For more information, go to my website@albertmohler.com youm can follow me on X or Twitter by going to x.comalbertmohler for information on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to spts Ed. For information on Boyce College, just go to boycecollege.com I'll meet you again tomorrow for the briefing.