KYIV — The abrupt, temporary closure of the U.S. embassy here late last month has served little purpose beyond feeding Russian fearmongering. It seems an appropriate coda to the Biden administration’s tepid support for Ukraine.
The media will not report it, but many Ukrainians are very excited at Donald Trump’s return, and believe that he offers them the chance of genuine victory. Just ask anyone in Kyiv.
Over the last 1,000 days, I have reported live from Ukraine every weekday on Chicago’s WGN Radio. I have met extraordinary people whose stories of freedom I know would resonate in the U.S. The problem: Americans, especially those in the Court of Mar-a-Lago, never hear these voices.
Here are six people from both Ukraine and the U.S. who can cut through media barriers and show MAGA-world that Ukrainians are fighting the worst kind of illegal immigrants — the kind armed with ballistic missiles — and the worst type of "deep state" in the Kremlin.
Illia Samoilenko, aka “Gandalf”
A soldier in the Azov regiment, Samoilenko lost an arm and an eye in his efforts against the pre-2022 Russian invasion. His moniker, “Gandalf,” echoes the Ukrainian tendency to call the invaders orcs, in this battle of good versus evil. With his battle experience and a hook for a hand, Gandalf, 30, could inspire American veterans and conservatives,........