Trump made a deal with a war criminal. He lifted sanctions on russian diesel. Putin will ship 4.8 million tons to American and global markets – roughly 4.5 billion dollars. That buys about 90,000 Shahed drones, or 1,800 Iskander missiles. Thousands of Ukrainians will die. Three weeks ago he signed a sanctions law. Yesterday he removed sanctions on russia and opened a market for russian oil. To the Ukrainian people: I am sorry. I am ashamed of our president, and of the Americans who put him in office. My country is now helping russia earn money while russia kills you. Two years ago I wrote that Trump would cut aid, block NATO, and push Ukraine to surrender territory. I was right. But I did not expect him to go so far as to support russia. And to those who voted for him and now see what he is: your silence is a choice. A morally bankrupt choice. Read the full article and share for the whole world to hear: romansheremeta.substack.com/…

Recently, I had a conversation with a Christian friend about the upcoming elections. She was struggling with a question that I believe many Christians in America are facing today: How should Christians vote when neither political party truly represents their values? For many years, American Christians have been told that they must support the Republican Party because it supposedly defends Christian values. Others argue that Democrats better represent Christian principles through their emphasis on compassion, social justice, and helping the poor. But I believe this entire way of thinking is fundamentally wrong. Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party represents the Church. And neither party deserves the unconditional loyalty of Christians. Our allegiance is to Jesus Christ, not to a political party. Read the full article on my Substack: economicsofpower.substack.co…

Instead of a thousand words. A six years old Vlad stands near his mother's grave. She was murdered by russians in Bucha. April 4, 2022.

Last night, Putin delivered yet another “positive response” to Ukraine’s peace proposals. Trump is right: Putin undoubtedly wants peace, is ready for it at any moment, and works every day to bring it about. The only problem is that it is a peace in which there is no place for us. No wonder Ukraine refuses to accept such a peace. We want to live, and we do not want to die. Some call this outrageous, some call it resentment, and others call it stubbornness in negotiations. Ukraine is accused of provoking the war itself – through its weakness or, conversely, its determination to join the EU and NATO; through its alleged suppression of the Russian language, culture, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (I live in Kyiv, where the language and culture are freely expressed, whether you like it or not); through its unwillingness to tolerate authoritarianism and corruption; through its role in the collapse of the Soviet Union (which Putin and many Russians consider “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”); through its refusal to recognize itself as a zone of exclusive Russian interests and a “younger sister.” Through its very existence: she was walking in the wrong neighborhood and wearing the wrong clothes. None of this matters. When there is a predator and a victim, an excuse will always be found. Gleiwitz, the Reichstag fire, and the FSB-linked hexogen explosives in Russian apartment buildings before the Chechen War are evidence of this. Ukraine’s refusal to capitulate is a thorn in the side of all the global powers. It proves that the strong do not necessarily defeat the weak when the weaker side fights for what is right and defends its own life. David defeats Goliath despite the difference in weight and Goliath’s expensive bronze armor. Size, money, and power do not equal truth or victory. This explains Trump’s hatred and his desire to diminish Ukraine by telling stories about a thousand tanks that got stuck in the mud because of a Russian general’s mistake. Let me remind you that it was Ukrainians who dug the Black Sea, which is why the cruiser Moskva sank there. Otherwise, it would never have happened. The belittling of our resilience, our desire to live, and our refusal to surrender is nothing new to us. We will continue to hear such voices both from outside and from within. Nobody in the world needs Ukraine, especially a strong Ukraine, except Ukrainians themselves. (In reality, everyone needs Ukraine, but we still have to convince them of that.) “We want to live. Our neighbors want to see us dead. This leaves very little room for compromise.” That is Golda Meir. And another quote from her: “It is better to receive notes of protest than telegrams of condolence.” I haven’t written anything new. You have read all of this many times before. I just wanted you to think about it once again. Source: translated from the text of Valeriy Pekar

“This is terrible pain that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It’s hard. I’ll be honest, I don’t sleep,” – Zelenskyy said when asked how he is holding up. The interviewer also noted that he could see tears in the Ukrainian president’s eyes.

Funeral of a one-year-old Angelina who was killed by a russia drone.

Trump’s envoy called Putin humanitarian today. Day earlier, Trump said that: “Russia has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much." While russia is actively committing genocide. If by some miracle you still support Trump and are connected to me, please disconnect. Obviously, we have very different values in life.

Trump’s special envoy, Witkoff, called Putin a “humanitarian.” “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again.”

Usually, when we think of Ukrainian heroes, we think of the brave soldiers at the frontline. And it is absolutely true - they are true heroes. But today, I want to give tribute to the unsung heroes of Ukraine - the women who work at the gas stations near the front. I want to honor them – a group of people who do tremendously important work a short drive from the fighting, who risk their lives every shift, some of whom die, and who will never be given a rank or a decoration or a street name. They are not in the army. They are just doing their job. One of them was Oksana Melnychenko. She had worked for the same chain since 2016, nine years behind the counter. On the night of June 30 the russians attacked five stations in Dnipropetrovsk region. Hers, near the village of Loboikivka, was destroyed. She was forty-three. She was killed where she stood. Read the full story on my Substack: romansheremeta.substack.com/…

New American Research Group poll: Trump Approval: 29% Disapproval: 67% Trump’s approval rating is historically low, but it is still far too high relative to what it should be. People who voted for him need to admit that they made a mistake and reject this morally bankrupt administration. If the Republican Party is ever to recover from this, it must first acknowledge the damage that has been done by MAGA and reject the corruption and moral bankruptcy of the Trump administration.

“Never before has America disgraced itself so badly. Especially those Christians who voted for this version of America. And I hear no repentance from them, except from a few Daniels.” Petro Makarchuk, Christian and father of nine children

Trump’s special envoy, Witkoff, called Putin a "humanitarian." "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again."

“I saw hacksaws, chainsaws, axes, and machetes there. Everything was covered in blood.” Ukrainian military medic Yuriy Armash describes the terror inside Russian torture chambers. Ukrainian military medic Yuriy Armash spent more than a year in Russian captivity. Among other places, he was held in one of the most notorious torture facilities in the Kherson region, established by Russian occupiers inside a seized police station in Nova Kakhovka. There, he learned the stories of many people and witnessed how the Russians’ system of terror against local civilians operated. How Russians torture prisoners “The interrogations began on the very first day. They were conducted by the same FSB officers. During interrogations, they covered my face and handcuffed my hands behind my back. They asked where the weapons were, how many people were in our reconnaissance group, where our positions were, where we had come from, and what our mission was. They used an awl. They would pull the skin on my neck, pierce it, and leave the awl hanging there so I could feel it. Because I wasn’t telling them what they wanted to hear, since I couldn’t tell them something that didn’t exist, they started using a knife. They stabbed me in the leg. They would take a knife and press it into my upper leg until they felt the blade reach the bone. When the Russians realized they weren’t going to get an answer, they used a ‘Tapik,’ a military field telephone. They attached its wires to my ears and kept turning the crank, sending electric shocks through my body until I started screaming.” How Russian occupiers abused civilians “Starting April 20, they began taking me out to provide medical assistance to civilians who had been severely beaten by the Russians. I remember treating a woman who was about 40 years old in one of the two punishment cells in the basement. I bandaged her head because she had been beaten with a rubber baton. There were all kinds of injuries. They broke people’s legs. Men under the age of 35–40 were treated particularly brutally.” A room filled with blood-covered torture instruments “I never expected the level of brutality I witnessed after February 24. Although I had seen many things before that, I was honestly shocked. At the Nova Kakhovka police station, I entered rooms where I saw things that absolutely terrified me. I saw hacksaws, chainsaws, axes, and machetes. Everything was covered in blood. The room with the blood-covered torture instruments was on the second floor of the police station, in the left wing. It was just an ordinary office. But there were also more secret rooms in the building where they never even took me. At the police station, the occupiers also forcibly removed tattoos they didn’t like from the bodies of detained civilians. Some had their tattoos cut out with knives. Others had them burned off with potassium permanganate. Russian occupiers raped even children “When Buryats and Kalmyks were stationed at the police department, they frequently entered the cells of young women under the age of 25–30. They even sorted the women by age and placed them in separate cells. From time to time, women were taken out of their cells and brought to another wing. The young women were taken there at night and raped. When the Russians’ rotation was coming to an end, they sometimes entered the cells and raped the women right there. My cell was nearby. I could hear everything clearly… The worst case involved a 14-year-old girl whom the Russians were holding captive. She tried very hard to hide the fact that she had been raped. One day, when we were taken outside for a walk, I noticed that she was bleeding. I asked her what had happened. She didn’t want to answer. I asked, ‘Did Russian soldiers do this to you?’ She silently lowered her head. I assured her that no one except me would ever know about it. After that, she answered: ‘Yes.’”

Neither of the US parties is pro-life. In 2022, a few months into the war, I went to a part of Ukraine where protecting human life wasn’t just a political talking point or a fundraising line. It was the only thing that mattered. I was there delivering bulletproof vests to soldiers. What stuck with me wasn’t how dangerous it was, but how dead-serious the men were. They all knew that they were risking their own lives to protect others. I’ve thought about that a lot since I got back. That level of seriousness is exactly what’s missing when our politicians talk about “the value of life.” Both sides have taken a basic human moral rule and turned it into a political brand. In the process, they’ve completely cheapened it. What I’m about to say is going to upset people in both parties, but frankly, neither side deserves to feel comfortable right now. If being “pro-life” actually means anything, you have to care about a person’s life from the very beginning all the way to the end. That means caring about the unborn baby, but it also means caring about the terrified mother who doesn’t know how she’s going to afford to raise a child. It means caring about poor families who can’t afford a doctor, refugees fleeing for their lives, and soldiers freezing in trenches while people back home get bored of paying attention to the news. If you only protect life at the very start but abandon people everywhere else, that isn’t a deep moral belief. It’s just a political strategy. Look at the Democrats. There used to be a real, visible group of pro-life Democrats. They were people who fought hard for unions and social safety nets, but also believed abortion was a serious issue. Back in 1992, Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey wasn’t even allowed to speak at the Democratic convention because of his strong anti-abortion views, which sent a clear message to millions of voters who felt like him. Even as late as 2009, a group of pro-life Democrats still had enough sway to shape the healthcare bill. But within a decade, that group was completely wiped out. The party platform hardened, primary challenges took care of the rest, and a view held by millions of regular Democratic voters basically became a ban on running for office. That is a huge mistake. A party that brags about being a “big tent” and loves to talk about inclusion has decided that this one specific viewpoint cannot be tolerated. That isn’t inclusion; it’s the exact opposite. It shuts the door on millions of Catholic, evangelical, and immigrant voters who would otherwise naturally vote Democrat. You can’t try to build a coalition of working-class people and then tell a massive chunk of them that their deepest moral beliefs make them unwelcome. Look at the Republicans. But the Republicans are just as bad – and in some ways it’s more frustrating because they use the language of protecting life to justify it. You can’t vote against abortion on Tuesday and then vote to cut healthcare for poor families on Thursday. It isn’t pro-life to protect a child in the womb and then shrug your shoulders when that same kid can’t see a doctor or get enough to eat after they’re born. And it definitely isn’t pro-life to brag about cutting off the aid that keeps children alive under military bombardment. I watched people celebrate when American support for Ukraine was treated like an annoying bill we shouldn’t have to pay. I honestly do not understand how you can call yourself a defender of life in one sentence and then abandon a whole country of living people in the next. Neither of the parties is pro-life. So, we are left with two parties that each take half of a belief and pretend it’s the whole thing. One side thinks compassion means treating a profound moral question like a simple matter of personal convenience, while dismissing anyone who feels sad about abortion as an enemy of progress. The other side thinks defending life only matters when it costs them absolutely nothing, and then they vote over and over to make life harder, poorer, and scarier for people who are already born. Neither of these positions is pro-life. They are just politicians using the word to win votes. I know this point of view doesn’t fit into either party right now, and I’m fine with the fact that saying this will get me flak from both sides. Democrats will see the word “abortion” and stop reading. Republicans will see the words “healthcare” and “foreign aid” and do the same. That’s just how people react now. But I’m not writing for the people who are completely happy with either party. I’m writing for the people who feel totally left out. I’m writing for those who feel, every single election, like they have to ignore half of their own values just to pick a team. There are a lot more of us than the parties think. What would it look like if we actually took this seriously? It would mean a Democrat could say they find abortion deeply troubling without destroying their career, while still fighting for working families. It would mean a Republican who understands that the unborn baby they want to protect will grow up needing a stable family, a doctor, and sometimes, a country that hasn’t been handed over to a dictator. Most of all, it would mean a political system that is actually willing to spend money to support people’s lives, rather than just using life as a talking point. The soldiers I met on the front lines didn’t stand around debating whether life was worth protecting. They were just giving everything they had to do it. I don’t expect our politicians to be heroes. But for starters, I’d settle for the basic honesty to admit that protecting life is a lot bigger than a campaign slogan – and by that standard, neither party has earned the right to use the word.

The Atlantic: “America Is Now an Ally of Russia.”

Wow, the US truly has the most incompetent president in history. Just listening to how clueless this man is, it’s no wonder we have been humiliated in Iran. Trump: “The Russians had a thousand tanks riding up a concrete highway. They would have been in Ukraine in four hours, going maximum tank speed, which is 48 miles an hour, to be exact. Nothing to stop them. The war would have been over in one day. And this very stupid general - I have no idea who he is. I doubt he’s still with us. I doubt he’s still living. He decided to hang a right onto the farmland and then take a left and go up to Kyiv, rather than staying on the highway - the concrete highway, perfectly good highway - where they were doing very nicely. It would have been three and a half, four hours, and the whole war would have ended. He ended up getting stuck in the mud.” Does he understand that Ukrainian troops destroyed all the bridges and cut off the retreat points, so the only option left was to go off the highway? I mean, if you have the IQ of a 10-year-old child, you should be able to get it. I am honestly shocked at the basic level of ignorance. And this is the man who is in charge of the US Army.

In 2022, a few months into the war, I went to a part of Ukraine where protecting human life wasn’t just a political talking point or a fundraising line. It was the only thing that mattered. I was there delivering bulletproof vests to soldiers. What stuck with me wasn’t how dangerous it was, but how dead-serious the men were. They all knew that they were risking their own lives to protect others. I’ve thought about that a lot since I got back. That level of seriousness is exactly what’s missing when our politicians talk about “the value of life.” Both sides have taken a basic human moral rule and turned it into a political brand. In the process, they’ve completely cheapened it. What I’m about to say is going to upset people in both parties, but frankly, neither side deserves to feel comfortable right now. Read the full article on my Substack: economicsofpower.substack.co…

Trump: I have the highest Christian vote in history. I know more than anyone. I am going to lead Christians into the greatest time of Christianity than no one else can do. I am shocked that after watching this so many Christians still support this man. This is the closest we have ever got to the anti-Christ.

Where do American political candidates stand on Ukraine? With the U.S. elections approaching, this is an important question for every American who supports Ukraine. American war journalist and strong supporter of Ukraine, Dylan Burns, has launched Track Ukraine – a platform that helps voters evaluate political candidates based on their positions on Ukraine. The tool makes it easier to see where candidates stand and make informed decisions at the ballot box. Check it out and share it with others: trackukraine.com/en-eur

A letter from American missionaries, Bria and Jesse Pohle, to Ukraine: Dear Ukraine, We are deeply ashamed. Our hearts are broken because our country has betrayed you. America has lost its way and chosen the side of evil. We sincerely and deeply apologize to you. We understand that these words will not change anything. But it is still important for us to say them to you. Perhaps there was a time when the United States was a shining example of freedom to the world. But not anymore. Now, it is you. You are an example of dignity, freedom, and courage for all of us. An example of how to remain human even in the darkest of times. You are a light in this dark world. May God help America open its eyes before it is too late and learn from you. We are deeply grateful that a nation like Ukraine exists in this world. We need you. Thank you for being who you are. We stand with you. Keep fighting. You will prevail. God is on your side.