Professor Roman Sheremeta
June 15, 2026
My feed this evening seemed to exist in two parallel worlds.
In the Ukrainian one, there were photos of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra engulfed in flames.
In the American one, there were cage fights on the White House grounds celebrating Donald Trump’s birthday and U.S. Flag Day.
Take a guess which event will make the front pages of American media tomorrow. Which videos will dominate social media feeds. What Americans will be talking about first and foremost, regardless of their political affiliation.
russia did not launch a massive ballistic missile attack on Kyiv by accident on this particular night. The Kremlin understood perfectly well that Washington would be preoccupied with celebrations and that media attention would be focused elsewhere. The spectacle on the White House lawn overshadowed even reports that the United States had reached a peace agreement with Iran, at least for one evening. On American Twitter, one of the most discussed moments right now is a fighter claiming live on stage that Michelle Obama is a man.
Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine are trying to break through the noise with photos and videos from Kyiv, but algorithms favor spectacle over tragedy.
Special thanks to the members of Congress, diplomats, religious leaders, and journalists who have shared these images and stories. Because of them, what happened in Kyiv still has a chance to appear in American feeds as well.
Author: Ostap Yarysh
Comment from :
Libby Carbone
I am an American who could not care less about the shenanigans this evening at the WH. It’s a ridiculous spectacle. My heart is with the people of Ukraine. 🙏🇺🇦
In today’s media environment, attention has become one of the world’s most contested resources. Unfortunately, attention is not always allocated according to importance. It is often allocated according to novelty, emotion and spectacle.
This creates a difficult reality: events with profound human consequences frequently compete for visibility against stories that are simply more algorithmically attractive.
Ruzzian barbarians.
…………
Michelle Obama is a man, shouts champion at Trump’s birthday UFC fight
Josh Hokit repeats conspiracy theory about former first lady shortly after knocking out opponent on White House lawn
By Benedict Smith
Benedict Smith is based in Washington DC. He has covered stories on the Trump administration, Russia-Ukraine war and Epstein files. He joined through the paper’s Editorial Graduate Programme and has previously worked at PA Media. In 2025 he won the Press 30 Under 30 Award
Published 15 June 2026
Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday with a UFC fight on the lawn of the White House, where the winner shouted “Michelle Obama is a man”.
Josh Hokit made the comment about the former first lady shortly after knocking out his opponent in front of thousands of spectators at the UFC Freedom 250 event.
“Shout out to Trump for having the balls to put some s— like this on,” he said on Sunday evening, before adding: “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”
Mr Hokit was referring to an internet theory that Mrs Obama was born a man and transitioned before her marriage to Barack Obama. There is no evidence to support this claim.
His post-fight speech is likely to inflame Americans who already believe that the White House’s martial arts tournament, notionally to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US’s founding, is politicised and tawdry.
Just 16 per cent of people think the event is appropriate, polling shows.
At the weigh-in on Saturday, Mr Hokit claimed he had been out drinking before appearing to throw up on himself. He defeated Derrick Lewis in the fourth of seven matches that took place on Sunday.
After the fight, Mr Hokit placed a heavy gold chain around Mr Trump’s neck and shook his hand. The US president then stood back and applauded him.
To host the event, an enormous metal arch stretching 80ft into the air and decorated with red, white and blue lights, was erected on the White House’s South Lawn, above the Octagon where the fights took place.
At the ringside, top administration officials mingled with athletes and crypto bosses. Attendees included Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, and Triple H, the former wrestling champion.
At one stage, Mr Trump appeared to fall asleep.
Steve Witkoff, the US’s Middle East envoy and JD Vance, the US vice-president, were pictured embracing at the event. Both men have played a key role in securing the peace deal with Iran, which Mr Trump announced hours before the tournament.
Tyson Fury, the former heavyweight champion, was also present, wearing a cap that read “Donald Trump for Prime Minister”.
As each fighter made their way from the White House to the Octagon, their entrance songs were played by a military band. The tournament began with a flyover featuring the US Air Force Thunderbirds and US Navy Blue Angels that thundered over the White House.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which hosts the offices of most of the White House staff, was used for the fighters’ changing rooms.
The event had an inauspicious start amid warnings that it could be forced to evacuate because of thunderstorms over Washington, DC.
Ultimately, a series of thunderstorms moving across from West Virginia delayed the start by about 45 minutes, but afterwards it proceeded without incident.
I managed to get the following comment past the DT mods :
The dignity of the office of president has been chiselled away to nothing under the present incumbent, who revels in this type of clown show.
To quote The Telegraph’s magisterial Charles Moore :
“Some terrible things have been done by other political leaders. The scene in the Oval Office in February last year, in which the president and vice-president of the United States publicly bullied President Zelensky was the most degrading moment in Western diplomacy since 1945. The withdrawal of American aid has unnecessarily lost many lives and prolonged the conflict.”
I hope that lawyers are preparing a case and that tovarisch Krasnov faces a jury before he dies.