It’s the other side of the coin: the resilience that has impressed the world since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Ukrainians don’t frighten easily or get discouraged, but they don’t impress easily either. Donald Trump’s shift on Ukraine last week, sending U.S. weaponry to Kyiv after the Pentagon had held it up, has been met with skepticism, black humor, and hope.
“Wow, 10 Patriot missiles,” someone calling himself Jerzy posted sarcastically in a July 8 Telegram chat after Trump reversed the pause of weapons deliveries. Shortly after the president’s remarks, sources revealed he was planning to send a small first shipment of these prized air-defense interceptors—the only weapons that can shoot down the high-speed ballistic missiles Moscow now launches at Ukrainian cities virtually every night. “Ridiculous,” “insulting,” “a mockery,” others chimed in on the chat before someone named Reti nailed the case: “Ukraine will easily fire 10 Patriot missiles in the space of an hour defending themselves from Russia,” he explained. Sources say it generally takes three or four interceptors to stop one Russian ballistic missile, and in just two days last week, Moscow hit Ukraine with a total of 14 rockets.
The skeptics could be wrong. If it holds, Trump’s shift is dramatic, potentially a historic turning point. After suggesting for months that Ukraine was the problem—responsible for the war and the obstacle to peace—Trump finally seems to recognize that it’s Vladimir Putin who doesn’t want to stop fighting. “We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin,” the president told a Cabinet meeting last week. “But it turns out to be meaningless.”
