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, offering a voice of conviction, as he did when he spoke before the United Nations in last April: “The solution to the humanitarian problems lies on the battlefield.”
Sergiy Stakhovsky
This Ukrainian might best appeal to Trump as a classic “winner.” In 2013 he defeated Roger Federer at Wimbledon when Federer was the reigning champ. Stakhovsky, now 38, had planned for a post-tennis life overseeing his successful wine business in Ukraine’s sunny Zakarpattia region. When Russia launched its big invasion, he left the vineyard, evacuated his kids, and then joined Ukrainian special forces. Stakhovsky’s journey, from world-class athlete to soldier in Bakhmut firefights, shows that Ukrainians are a nation of people who like winning. His eloquence makes him an ideal diplomat, as he showed during this interview with me with Kyiv’s Ukrainska Pravda.
Oleksandra Ustinova
A member of Ukraine’s parliament and an anti-corruption activist, Ustinova, 39, has been fighting for democracy since the 2013-14 Revolution of Dignity, when she herself was standing in the streets against the pro-Kremlin regime. Having spent significant time in the U.S., she has a natural presence on American media platforms. Ustinova could effectively counter Russian propaganda, particularly the false narrative that the 2014 revolution was a CIA plot.
Morgan Ortagus
As for American representatives to Ukraine, you could do worse than Ortagus. A Navy veteran who served as spokesperson for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, she has firsthand knowledge of the key players in Ukraine, which she visited during Trump’s presidency and in the uncertain early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ortagus has consistently criticized President Biden’s weakness and delays in supporting Ukraine. Her deep understanding of key players on both sides and her closeness with Trump position her as a valuable voice for stronger U.S.-Ukraine cooperation.
Ezra Cohen
A former undersecretary of defense in Trump’s first administration, Cohen is an expert in countering Russian propaganda and a rare intelligence-world figure who has enjoyed Trump’s trust. He says Biden’s weakness has emboldened adversaries worldwide, especially Russian allies Iran and Hamas. Cohen doesn’t speak often of Ukraine, but he could effectively communicate how supporting Ukraine aligns with U.S. national interests, particularly to an American audience skeptical of the U.S. defense machine.
Luke Coffey
A conservative analyst at the Hudson Institute, Coffey has been an outspoken critic of Biden’s tepid Ukraine policy. Honored by President Volodymyr Zelensky and sanctioned by Russia, Coffey exemplifies how conservative thought can align with Ukrainian victory. He could assist Elon Musk by showing how Ukrainians have often put U.S. defense contractors to shame, producing low-cost drones that would be sold for vastly inflated prices in the United States.
Timothy Snyder
Here’s a wild card. This Yale University professor has made clear his disdain for Trump, arguably in a too-partisan way. Yet with his knowledge of history and authoritarian regimes (especially of Russia) and his subsequent bold support for real Ukrainian victory, he could be an ideal voice to help prevent a full-out World War III. In September, he warned Congress how the Russians have been “controlling our strategic discourse.”
A conservative defense policy expert close to Trump circles told me at the end of his clandestine trip to Ukraine a few months back that what struck him the most was how nearly everyone he met, including baristas and IT techs driving Ubers, wanted to win. At last he saw the Russian-Ukraine war as a battle of free people against the Kremlin’s deep-state tyranny. If more Americans heard from the right Ukrainian voices, this barrier would fall — bigly.
Joe Lindsley reports live from Ukraine 10 minutes each weekday on Chicago’s WGN Radio with Bob Sirott, the only American show broadcasting daily from the war since 2022.
