On the night of Monday, June 9, Russia carried out a combined strike on the territory of Ukraine, launching ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as attack drones. The first to fly, as always, were the so-called Shaheds, invaded into the country from various directions.
Not long ago, American leadership meant something
We in Kyiv anxiously awaited the continuation, remembering that in a recent telephone conversation with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin had warned he would have to respond to Ukraine’s major drone attack on Russian airbases. We also understood that the US president preferred not to interfere, portraying the bloody war as a conflict between “two young children fighting like crazy” in a park.
“Sometimes it’s better off letting them fight for a while, and then you’re pulling them apart,” Trump said, suggesting that he could be seen as an experienced referee standing above the fray.
But this, like all his previous words and actions, was not at all a sign of an impartial attitude towards Moscow and Kyiv.
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