Aug 2nd, 2026
Ariana Gic
Writer and Political Analyst
York University – Osgoode Hall Law School Direct Initiative International Centre for Ukraine
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Director of the International Center for Ukrainian Studies “Direct Initiative”, Senior Advisor at the Center for Eastern European Democracy.
Ariana is an independent political analyst. She previously worked as a manager and as a legal researcher and writer at Carswell Legal Solutions/Thomson Reuters for five years. Ariana was the legal representative for McMaster University, Hamilton Health Sciences, Joint Research Ethics Board, and a policy analyst for the Government of Ontario. She has a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, and a Bachelor of Arts (High Distinction) in Philosophy from the University of Toronto.
A capital city in Europe burning. This is Kyiv after at least 30 Russian genocide strikes on residential buildings overnight. Ukrainians are being murdered in their beds EVERY day. Our response is not to stop the genocide, not to help defeat Russia like we defeated the Nazi regime, but to tell Ukraine to negotiate with the fascist aggressor and perpetrator of genocide.
The lack of reaction to yet another Russian incursion of NATO territory is a terrifying failure of our governments to protect us from fascist Russia. The giant crater in Poland resulting from a Russian missile is not the first incident which calls for NATO to invoke Article 4.
If Russian terrorist attacks (which collectively add up to aggression) and drone and missiles in our nations do not prompt us to even CONSULT on how to respond to Russian attacks and prevent future ones, we have jointly agreed that we tolerate them.
Today, a mall burned down in the centre of a city, attacks on trains, planes, communications, energy and other critical infrastructure, cyber attacks, drones flown into residential buildings and missiles cratering our land. By accepting these Russian attacks, we invite far more for tomorrow.
Our signal to Moscow is not “We’re not troubled by your attacks. You don’t scare us. You’re not worth our time!” but, “We do not even know how to respond. We are too afraid to even talk about it. We will tolerate your attacks. We won’t respond.” Our fear and cowardice are clear.
The delusion that we are too strong, Russia too weak, and that we are better positioned than Ukraine to respond if needed (but it won’t happen anyway because Moscow won’t dare – Putin isn’t that mad!!) will not save us, but makes us sitting ducks.
As Roman Sohn and I have written countless times, Russia is NOT going to wait for NATO nations to be ready to defend themselves against Russian attack. Moscow will strike when the opportunity presents. And by doing nothing, we are showing Putin that we are not ready to respond.
Russian defeat is not complete by restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity. It isnt enough. Russian defeat needs to look like Nazi Germany’s defeat, not just a withdrawal of troops and then some punishment of some military figures and politicians.
I think a great many people do not understand that the staggering figure of casualties Russian forces suffer does not deter Moscow. Those fighting are largely expendables from the Kremlin’s perspective. The loss of life is irrelevant in pursuit of Moscow’s larger objectives.
In addition to the “unimportant” “non-ethnic” Russians (including criminals released from jail for the occasion) used as cannon fodder, there are huge numbers of mercenaries fighting for Russia as well as Ukrainians from occupied Ukraine forcibly mobilized to fight against Ukraine.
Moscow really doesn’t give a shit about its people, and it cares far less for the “less thans” and Ukrainians they force to fight for Russia against their compatriots.
The figures which shock westerners are just a means to an end for Moscow. These are justifiable losses for a MUCH greater goals of totally destroying Ukraine and the western-led rules based order after which Russia emerges as victor and as a major, global super-power.
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DW. Phillips
DW P.
Producer and Film Director @ Ukraine Story | Documentary Filmmaker | Attorney | Journalist | Covering 2024-2026 Olympics, Politics, Russian Disinformation, Ukrainian Athletics
George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School Ukraine Story
United States
The Goal for America and the World is Freedom
On the 250th of America’s birth, we are reminded that our Declaration of Independence advanced the notion that Americans can only demand freedom if we acknowledge that freedom is a transcendent right belonging too all nations. Towards this end, our Founders pledged their lives to secure it for themselves and future generations.
Reagan put it this way:
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same…”
Today, American freedom is being defended on behalf of the West by Ukrainians. They are leading the world in protecting and defending this right. We should be deeply grateful.
Comment from :
Reagan would be sick. Our grossly uninformed electorate has twice elected one the most dishonest, corrupt, incompetent and ignorant grifters on the planet. Reagan wasn’t perfect but he stood for something and generally kept his commitments. Imagine that.
The actual quote:
“Today, we speak to all in Eastern Europe who are separated from neighbors and loved ones by an ugly iron curtain. And to every person trapped in tyranny, whether in the Ukraine, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, or Vietnam, we send our love and support and tell them they are not alone. Our message must be: Your struggle is our struggle, your dream is our dream, and someday, you, too, will be free. As Pope John Paul told his beloved Poles, we are blessed by divine heritage. We are children of God and we cannot be slaves.”
DW, I support your work and I know what you’re trying to do when you name drop Reagan and other more ‘old school’ republicans. But the fact is, the Republican Party has failed the Ukraine test of principles. And we need to let that failure stand and just be acknowledged. Anyone who would be put in touch with their higher angels by a Reagan or McCain or Lincoln quote would have done so years ago. We need to help Ukraine win with a new coalition. The old Republican Party is dead – it has been replaced by a know-nothing and jingoistic populism – and the sooner we stop being nostalgic for what it COULD have been if their intelligentsia had managed to defend it from Trump and the heritage true believers… the better. I know you to be a brilliant man, DW. Why are you still flogging this dead horse Sir.
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Halyna Yanchenko
Member of Parliament of Ukraine
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
I’m a member of the Ukrainian parliament, elected in 2019. I’ve authored a number of legislative initiatives and am the primary author of 22 bills, of which 7 have been enacted into law. One of the bills I was involved with in the Verkhovna Rada addressed amendments to the Constitution concerning the restriction of parliamentary impunity. I also contributed to bill №2237, which introduced modifications to the Criminal Procedure Code, enabling a streamlined procedure for the investigation and accountability of members of Parliament. This particular law was approved by the President in December 2019.
I have never done an interview with CNN quite like this before. Right in the middle of our conversation, you can hear explosions as Russian missiles strike Kyiv.
We recorded this interview at 1:40 a.m. on August 1 – at the very moment Russian ballistic missiles were raining down on us from all directions
“Are you safe, Halyna?” Jim Sciutto kept asking me.
“All I can do is pray,” was the only answer I could give.
Today, no one in Ukraine can truly feel safe because we still do not have enough Patriot interceptor missiles to protect our skies.
Watch for yourself. This interview shows better than any words why Ukraine needs those missiles now.
For us, this is not about politics. It is about survival.
VIDEO HERE :
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Oleksii Fokardi
EO holding – Isatex Invest Group | | Industrial parks | Recreational complexes. Solar energy parks. Residential properties.
Melitopol State Pedagogical Institute/Bogdan Khmelnitsky Melitopol state pedagogical university Ukraine Invest Isatex LLC
Ukraine
ABOUT THE “PATRIOT” LICENSE
Following the White House meeting on July 28, 2026, and the July NATO summit in Ankara, Trump’s key statements are as follows: “We’ll give you a license to manufacture the Patriot. We’ll show you how to do it—it’s quite complicated, but you’ll figure it out quickly. That way, you won’t be able to complain that we’re not giving you enough, and you’ll be able to produce them yourselves.”
Today, July 31. Press conference. Trump’s response to a question from reporters: “This is an incredible weapon. We have to be very careful about allowing anyone to build something like this… We haven’t agreed to this; we’re just discussing it, and transferring technology of this kind—I don’t think that will ever happen.”
And just earlier in an interview, Trump repeated that he likes both Putin and Zelensky, and that both of them will have to make concessions. Once again—he LIKES PUTIN! It’s just interesting—do you know why Putin would need to make concessions?
Comment from :
Donald J. trump Simply Likes Vladimir putin Better
Pure and simple.
To victory, against all odds!
And Glory to Ukraine! 🇺🇦
For EPIC courage and determination. Слава Україні – Разом до перемоги! 🇺🇦 ✌
The USA does not have to hand over the technology. Ukrainian engineers, assembly and technical workers could set up production and distribution lines in the US. Under the control of Lock Heat they could produce the Patriots themselves and faster.
We’ve known for a long while that Trump’s pronouncements are utterly meaningless. We need to pay attention to what he does (or fails to do)—not what he says. He has consistently sought to ease the international pressure on Putin—despite saying he end the war “within 24 hours”. Whatever his motives, he is 100% complicit in the slaughter and butchery of tens of thousands of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children. That will be his legacy to the world.
Brilliant comment here :
Each of these pictures, each video after a drone or missile attack in Ukraine, is a cry to our humanity, to our conscience, to be in the moment, to be present. To feel the pain of these good and brave people.
We must not look away, we must not become numb to the savagery, the genocide of Russia against Ukraine for twelve years.
We must do more, we must stand with Ukraine until victory, not a false peace. They know who Russia is, as Finland does…, as does Eastern Europe.
Victory for Ukraine must be the official position of the United States, every nation-state in the EU, in NATO, and all others countries that believe in freedom, democracy, sovereignty, and the rule of law, the rules based order.
We must stop supporting Russia. We must send air defense missiles to Ukraine. Russia must be defeated.
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Dimko Zhluktenko
Soldier of Ukraine’s Army 🪖 | Founder of Dzyga’s Paw – Ukrainian military charity fund
Armed Forces of Ukraine
Create extraordinary things.
I cherish the honor to defend my country, Ukraine, in the face of extreme challenges. Even if I can do 0.000001% needed to protect our homes, I am so proud of this.
Do the thing you think you can’t. 🇺🇦
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Ukrainian-made 155mm howitzer 2P22 Bohdana-BG, with anti-drone mesh over the breech – which seems to be factory-fitted, not welded on by the crew.
Hi, I’m Dimko Zhluktenko. 🇺🇦 I’m a Ukrainian soldier, founder, author, and analyst working where defense, technology, and frontline experience meet. I serve with Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. I started as a UAV/ISR drone pilot in an active combat role on the front in Donetsk Oblast, flying reconnaissance and strike missions, and now work on three things: international cooperation, innovation, and lessons learned. My role in the Army is to turn what actually happens on the battlefield into knowledge our partners and our own units can act on. I also hold an MA in Public Administration from the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv (2026), and BSc in Computer Science from Lviv Polytechnic National University. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, I founded Dzyga’s Paw, a tech-driven charity that has raised $6M+ from ordinary people in more than 70 countries. The mission is simple: equip Ukrainian forces with the technology that wins fights and saves lives, from drones to encrypted radios. Learn more at dzygaspaw.com. I came to this from engineering. I built and architected distributed, high-load systems, led teams across .NET, Java, Python, Go, and Kubernetes, and founded @lvivdotnet for Ukrainian software engineers. That background shapes how I see modern warfare now: a contest of speed, iteration, and getting the right tools into the right hands faster than the enemy. I also wrote a book about my war journey: Ordinary Guy at War, available at https://kovyla.pub/dimko. I believe in freedom, in innovation, and in the practical power of technology to change outcomes. Let’s connect if you want to collaborate, exchange lessons from the front, or support Ukraine. 🇺🇦
If you don’t think that Texan DW. Phillips sounds very Ukrainian, his antecedents were from the Jewish Quarter of Lviv; when it had a Jewish Quarter.