OPINION: Trump’s Misguided Criticism Ignores Russia’s Brutality and Ukraine’s Precision

On June 4, 2025, US President Donald Trump held a phone call with Vladimir Putin, later describing it as “good” but unlikely to yield “immediate peace.” Trump’s subsequent condemnation of Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian military targets as ‘escalatory’ reveals a dangerous misreading of the war’s dynamics.

While Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb surgically targeted Russia’s war machine, Moscow’s deliberate targeting of civilians exposes the imperialist savagery of Putin’s campaign, underscoring that Ukraine’s fight is not just for survival but for the principles of freedom and sovereignty.

Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb was a masterclass in asymmetric warfare. Over 100 drones, smuggled into Russia and launched from trucks with retractable roofs, struck five air bases, including remote Siberian facilities, damaging 41 aircraft, such as Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers used to attack Ukrainian cities.

The operation, planned over 18 months and hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as “absolutely brilliant,”  so reduced Russia’s bomber fleet, that it forced Russia to pull its Tu-160 “White Swan” strategic bombers off nuclear alert status to deploy them for conventional strikes.

By targeting bases, weapons depots, and refineries directly fueling Russia’s invasion, Ukraine minimized civilian harm while exposing the fragility of Moscow’s military.

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Russia Disguises Fuel Trucks as Milk Tankers to Reach Crimea

Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk revealed that Ukraine’s systematic interdiction campaign has fractured Russian logistics leading into occupied Crimea. With the Kerch Strait Bridge closed to fuel tankers and alternative maritime ferries heavily damaged, the Russian military has resorted to disguising fuel trucks as civilian vehicles – such as milk and food transportation trucks – to traverse the land corridor through occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Contrast this with Russia’s tactics. Moscow wields its precision weapons – Kalibr missiles and Iranian-supplied Shahed drones – not to strike at Ukraine’s dispersed military, but to terrorize Ukrainian civilians.

Apartment buildings, hospitals, chemotherapy wards, and OB/GYN clinics are high on Putin’s target lists.  On June 5, 2025, a Russian drone strike on Kyiv killed three emergency workers and wounded 20, including a one-year-old boy, his mother, and grandmother.  The United Nations has branded Russia’s ongoing targeting of civilians in Kherson a crime against humanity.  These attacks are not military necessities but deliberate acts of cruelty, designed to break Ukraine’s spirit and erase its identity.

The moral and strategic chasm is undeniable. Ukraine’s strikes are a defensive necessity, using low-cost drones to destroy $4 billion worth of aircraft with surgical precision, while deliberately sparing Russia’s nuclear-capable assets to avoid escalation.

Russia’s response?  Yet another terror bombing campaign, targeting Ukrainian cities and civilians.   Such murderous attacks have become the hallmark of Putin’s  neo-imperial war of conquest, seeking to subjugate a sovereign nation through terror.

Putin’s rejection of Trump’s ceasefire proposals, dismissing them as a chance for Ukraine to rearm, and his “maximalist” demands in Istanbul – demilitarization and acceptance of annexation – reveal his true aim: not peace, but Ukraine’s annihilation.

Trump’s suggestion that both sides “fight for a while” before negotiating ignores this reality. Operation Spiderweb proved Ukraine’s ability to disrupt Russia’s war machine without crossing nuclear redlines, yet his criticism risks undermining a vital ally. The operation’s success, gutting Russia’s long-range strike capabilities, shows Ukraine’s resolve to defend itself, not escalate recklessly.

Washington must wake up to the political stakes. Putin’s war is not a regional dispute but an assault on the global order, challenging the principles of sovereignty and self-determination.

Putin’s refusal to negotiate in good faith, paired with relentless civilian attacks, signals a threat that extends beyond Ukraine to Europe’s democratic core.

Supporting Ukraine with unrestricted long-range weapons and economic aid is critical to countering Putin’s authoritarian vision, which finds echoes in Beijing and Tehran.

The Biden administration’s earlier hesitancy and Trump’s current misstep risk emboldening autocrats worldwide. Operation Spiderweb has laid bare Russia’s vulnerabilities – now is the time to bolster Ukraine’s fight, not question its resolve, to ensure Putin’s imperial ambitions are defeated and the democratic world order preserved.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.