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New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Russia's war in Ukraine must end, here's how it could happen
The critics and admirers of America's 47th president disagree on everything and agree on nothing. Some treat his words as gospel; others dismiss them out of hand. But no one can say he hasn't tried to deliver on campaign promises. Donald Trump vowed to end Russia's war in Ukraine — and if there's one line he's repeated again and again, it's this: 'Too many people are dying — thousands each week — in a terrible and senseless war.' 6 Scenes of vast destruction in Kyiv, where a warehouse was one of the many targets hit during one of Russia's largest-ever drone strikes. SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Advertisement Moscow's war of choice is truly terrible, but to call it 'senseless' is to miss the point. Russia has been killing Ukrainians for the crime of being Ukrainian since 2014 — predictably, methodically, relentlessly. Russia's war is also criminal, under the very rules of warfare America helped enshrine in 1945. Is it senseless for Ukraine to fight back? A war for survival is immensely costly — but to shield your children from Russian missiles is not a choice; it's a duty. Kyiv has no real options but to resist: Because failure to defend your home is dishonor, followed by annihilation. 6 Russian leader Vladimir Putin has suggested he is serious about ending his nation's war in Ukraine, but has only strengthened his attacks on the nation. POOL/AFP via Getty Images After months of frantic diplomacy, it's finally clear where everyone stands. The White House wants a cease-fire. Ukraine wants peace. Russia wants neither. How do we know? Back in March, Trump dispatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio to demand that Kyiv prove it was serious about ending the war. Within 24 hours, Ukraine not only agreed to halt hostilities in the air and at sea — it offered an unconditional 30-day cease-fire. Advertisement Russia rejected Washington's peacemaking efforts, stonewalled and openly mocked America. Putin mouthed lies about ending the fighting, while unleashing ever more rockets on Ukrainian cities. On Palm Sunday — just 48 hours after Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with him — Russia launched its worst attack since 2023: 84 civilians wounded, including 10 children. 6 Pres. Trump dispatched US Sec. of State Marco Rubio to demand serious action from Russia to end its war on Ukraine. REUTERS This week, Russia set a new record by launching nine cruise missiles and 355 of the Shahed drones it sources from Iran, in a single night. Over the preceding three nights, it launched around 900 drones — a grim milestone in a war defined by deliberate cruelty and heinous war crimes. While Trump uses words like Putin is 'playing with fire,' the Kremlin uses rockets to set suburban neighborhoods ablaze. Knowing where we stand inspires little optimism — but it doesn't determine what comes next. Russia chose to invade. Ukraine found the courage to defend itself. But crushing Russia's appetite for war will take more than heroism from Kyiv. It will require resolve from America and every nation that stands for freedom. We can and must give peace through strength a chance! Advertisement If we're serious about protecting US interests, let's get real about the three ways this war could end. 6 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky needs a lasting peace for his nation if Russia's war on Ukraine is to fully end rather than merely pause. AFP via Getty Images The most likely outcome — and the one Washington is drifting toward — is a frozen conflict, otherwise known as a ticking time bomb. A cease-fire is declared, the front line hardens into a de facto border and Putin keeps what he stole. Ukraine loses what it bled for. The West congratulates itself for 'containing the crisis,' and everyone pretends that's a win. What follows is predictable: Moscow prepares for the next invasion. America's credibility circles the drain and the world tilts toward un-security, where fear reigns, prosperity falters, Russia-China alliance hardens hardens and the cost of freedom rises. Advertisement Then there's the most dreadful scenario: We let Russia have its way. A third-rate power with first-rate imperial arrogance, economy the size of Texas and collapsing demographics is handed a victory — not because it deserves one, but because we failed to help Ukraine. We've seen this movie before. In the 1930s, giving Hitler what he wanted didn't end the war — it made it bigger. 6 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin in Munich i 1938, where their historic act of appeasement paved the way for World War II and Germany's imperialistic power grab. Getty Images The third scenario — called the best case by some — is that we finally step up, arm Ukraine properly to push Russia back. We've got the means. What's missing is backbone. Ukraine regains ground, Crimea stays in legal limbo, and Putin claims victory anyway — because tyrants who control the script never admit defeat. But even this feel-good outcome would fall far short of justice. If stolen children aren't returned, if mass graves and beheaded POWs are ignored, if war criminals are drinking champagne in Moscow instead of facing judgment in The Hague — then what exactly will we have won? What's not even on the table is the one path history tells us brings lasting peace: The aggressor is defeated, disarmed and held to account. That means full restoration of Ukraine's borders, reparations and prison for those who ordered and carried out atrocities. Not to punish the Russian people — but to give them a chance at finally breaking free from a system built on oppression, violence and conquest. This version of peace — just, durable and enforced — is the one worth aiming for. And yet, somehow, it's not even part of the conversation. 6 As far as Pres. Trump is concerned, the killing must end in Ukraine. He recently declared that Putin has gone 'crazy' as his tenor against the Russian leader becomes increasingly critical. AP Last weekend, Trump said Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!' But madness isn't the problem — impunity is. Russia's war makes perfect sense to Putin, that's why he is waging it. Advertisement The real insanity is pretending that angry words or half-measures will stop him. Andrew Chakhoyan is an academic director at the University of Amsterdam and previously served in the US government at the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Shafaq News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Russian strikes hit Ukraine's Kharkiv as diplomatic tensions mount
Shafaq News/ A wave of Russian drone and missile attacks struck northeastern Ukraine overnight, wounding at least 11 civilians and damaging dozens of buildings in Kharkiv, as both military and diplomatic tensions escalated across the region. Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Friday that a drone struck the village of Vasyliv Khutir, injuring two teenagers (14-16 years old) among the eleven wounded. Ukraine's Air Force confirmed Russia launched 90 Shahed drones and two ballistic missiles targeting Kharkiv, Odesa, and Donetsk. In Kharkiv city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov stated that eight drones hit a trolleybus depot, damaging over 30 apartment buildings. One vehicle was destroyed, and 18 others were heavily damaged. Kharkiv, located just 30 kilometers from the Russian border, has faced relentless attacks since the war began in 2022. Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it shot down 48 Ukrainian drones, mostly over Belgorod. On the diplomatic front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Moscow's latest ceasefire gesture as a 'manipulative ploy,' arguing no official proposal had been presented to Kyiv or its allies. 'Even Turkiye, which hosted past negotiations, was sidelined,' he remarked. His remarks followed accusations by Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia, who claimed Ukraine and the West were attempting to 'mislead' US President Donald Trump, who has shown interest in peace talks. Nebenzia promised further disclosures at a UN Security Council session convened by Moscow. During that session, US political coordinator John Kelley warned that continued Russian aggression could erode US support for diplomacy, urging President Vladimir Putin to engage with the existing peace framework.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How much does a Russian drone attack on Ukraine cost? The question is more complicated than it sounds
Beginning overnight on Saturday, May 24, Russia rained down nearly a thousand drones and missiles on villages and cities across Ukraine in three nights of large-scale aerial attacks, as civilians spent hours sheltering underground. Russia's bombardment killed more than a dozen people and injured dozens more, in one of the largest coordinated attacks since the start of the war. Such deadly storms of drones and missiles are not cheap to carry out, but the costs of these weapons are sensitive military information that Russia keeps classified. Experts and media outlets have estimated that attacks like the one this past weekend cost Russia hundreds of thousands of dollars in weaponry. The estimated figures vary significantly, however, and that's before adding in other costs beyond their price tag, like the price of a flight that launches a missile, or storage costs before weapons are used. "The cost of these large strikes is quite difficult to estimate in the open-source because Russia goes to great lengths to obfuscate the cost of the missiles and drones," said Angelica Evans, a Russia analyst with the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). "Particularly with the onset of western sanctions and Russia's many sanctions evasion schemes, it's difficult to know how much all of the various components in the projectiles really cost, let alone the cost of production itself." According to Ukraine's Air Force, the weekend attack used Shahed drones, decoy drones, three types of cruise missiles, and Iskander-M and KN-23 ballistic missiles. Most of the 995 weapons — 903 of them — were Shahed kamikaze drones or decoy drones meant to mimic the behavior of Shaheds and overwhelm air defense systems. Russia also launched 69 cruise missiles: 64 of the Kh-101 variety, 4 Kh-59/69 missiles, and one Kh-22 missile. The remaining 23 weapons were Iskander-M ballistic missiles or similar North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles. Some experts have tried to come up with price tags for different weapons systems using open-source information, including examining the components of downed weaponry, comparing missiles to similar weapons in the West, and analyzing hacked procurement contract data. While these methods can give a better sense of how much Russia is paying to carry out its aerial attacks, they result in a range rather than a hard figure. Take the Shahed, for example. One commonly cited figure is $50,000 per Shahed drone produced in Russia. Others have said the scaling of production in the past year within Russia has lowered the cost, potentially as low as $20,000. Hacked documents between Russia and Iran, meanwhile, show that Russia negotiated prices for Iranian-made Shaheds earlier in the war in the range of $193,000 to $290,000 per unit, depending on the number ordered. To save money on drones, Russia is increasingly producing them at home. Satellite imagery has detected the expansion of the facilities where Shahed drones are manufactured in Russia. The cost of a Shahed used by Russia therefore heavily depends on when it was acquired and whether you're calculating its replacement cost or its original purchase or production price. Nor do these estimates account for modifications made to the drones by Russians in the field or at the unit level. Another consideration is whether to include the cost of paying the soldiers who deploy the weapon. "Recent reporting estimates Russia can produce roughly 100 Shaheds per day." The uncertainty is multiplied hundreds of times over for each drone in a major attack. But the use of decoy drones provides another complication in calculating the cost of the recent Russian attack: How many of the 903 drones were Shaheds, and how many were the much cheaper decoy drones? Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Service believes the most expensive part of the decoy drones is their engine, which can be bought online for around $350–$500. A complete decoy is likely to cost in the low thousands range. Yurii Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, has stated that almost half of the deployed drones may be decoys. And these are only considerations for pricing a drone. Missiles have a heftier price tag — from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per missile — and can also come with a wider price range. Most ballpark estimates would put a dollar price tag in the high six figures for the recent three-day aerial attack, but the usefulness of such a metric is limited by how much variability there is. A more helpful metric, said Evans of ISW, would be looking at how many weapons are being launched compared to how many weapons Russia can produce. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to continue scaling up production of weapons, and drones in particular, calling them a major factor in combat successes. "We have seen recent reporting that Russia has been increasing its ability to produce Shahed drones and decoy variants for many months, and recent reporting estimates Russia can produce roughly 100 Shaheds per day," Evans said. This suggests that the drones used in the past weekend's attack could be replenished in just over a week. "Russian missile production capabilities are much more limited, particularly of Iskander ballistic missiles, and the Russians may be trying to stockpile cruise missiles so they can conduct rarer but more intense strike series like we saw over the weekend," Evans added. Hi, this is Andrea. Thanks for reading my article. At the Kyiv Independent, we work hard to inform the world about what's happening in Ukraine. To fund our reporting, we rely on our community of over 19,000 members from around the world, most of whom give just $5 a month. We're aiming to reach 20,000 soon — join our community and help us reach this goal. Read also: How Russia's Shahed drones are getting more deadly — and what Ukraine is doing about it We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Spectator
4 days ago
- Spectator
Who doesn't stand to benefit from the war in Ukraine?
On the night of 26 May, Kyiv came under another large-scale Russian drone and missile attack, with explosions and machine gun fire rattling the city. I lay on the floor of my narrow hallway, listening to the furious cacophony outside the window. Two thin walls stood between me and the war, hardly an invitation to philosophical reflection. Nevertheless, I tried, because it helped me banish the more disturbing thoughts. We Ukrainians now rely on smartphone apps to warn us of incoming Russian drones and missile launches. They don't tell you which building will be hit or where the wreckage of a downed Shahed might fall. This deprives you of sleep. Your mind churns with scrambled thoughts instead of dreams. If you can catch the truly important ones, they can be useful. So I thought. Between explosions, Seneca's old question 'Cui bono?' – 'who benefits?' – echoed in my head.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
"Interesting strike": Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces destroyed over 40 Russian vehicles in one operation
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukrainian troops recently struck Russian positions using 400 drones simultaneously, destroying more than 40 pieces of Russian equipment. Source: Interfax-Ukraine Quote: "Recently, we had an interesting strike on them. We simultaneously launched 400 small drones. More than 40 pieces of equipment were destroyed at once. And we carried out this operation. It was carried out solely by the military, solely on the battlefield." Details: Zelenskyy emphasised that this was the first attempt at such an operation and expressed confidence that Ukraine would soon be able to demonstrate even more large-scale actions. The president also said Ukraine was developing aerial interception systems, particularly involving drones. Quote: "We understand how many [Russian aerial assets] Mirages or F-16s can shoot down in a single sortie and how many we can use simultaneously in the air. We're also advancing in drone-on-drone interceptors. We're already using them." Details: Zelenskyy said these interceptor drones have become a response to Shahed drone attacks, which Russians launch at altitudes inaccessible to Ukraine's mobile fire units. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
