Journalist Yuriy Lukyanov spent nearly three weeks in the United States, traveling through Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, and Washington. He presented the English translation of his war-themed book Reporter Volkovsky there. He gave talks at universities and colleges, as well as studying the attitudes of Americans towards Ukraine, both among ordinary citizens and experts. He detailed his observations in this article.
Protest near the White House
Near the gate of the White House, you can see a dozen or more people every day holding Ukrainian national flags or banners in the national Ukrainian colors with calls to support Ukraine. From time to time, they shout pro-Ukrainian slogans, express gratitude to Americans for their support, and sing the Ukrainian anthem.
Naturally, the majority there are ethnic Ukrainians, members of the organization US-Ukrainian activists. However, among them, there are also Americans who have no connection to Ukraine.
66-year-old retiree David Ruth lives about a 1-year drive from Washington in the town of Damascus in Montgomery County, Maryland. He comes to participate in demonstrations near the White House two or three times a week. David worked for 36 years in the US Department of Agriculture. During his work, he visited Ukraine, and had good acquaintances there in Kyiv and Sumy.
“When the invasion happened on February 24 last year, I received frantic phone calls from some people I had met in Ukraine. They explained to me that they were being attacked and that there was a civilian genocide, that residential buildings and other civilian objects were being destroyed. They asked me to get in touch with members of Congress,” says David Ruth.
David sent a letter to congressmen, members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. On the very first day after the start of the full-scale war, Ukrainians gathered at the White House, and David Ruth joined them.
The signs held by the participants of the demonstration reflect demands to the US government that are relevant for the specific period of time. Immediately after February 24, 2022, these demands included respecting the Budapest Memorandum, in which signatories assured their commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for a voluntary renunciation of nuclear weapons. They also demanded closing the airspace over Ukraine and providing Javelins, tanks, aircraft, and so on.
After information emerged about the misconduct of Russian soldiers in Bucha and Hostomel, in May 2022, the US-Ukrainian activists joined the organization Women for Ukraine and organized a protest outside the Russian embassy against the rape of Ukrainian women by Russian soldiers. The female participants were dressed in white clothes painted with red dye, symbolizing blood.
It has an impact because when Americans attend these rallies, there are certain senators or congressmen who periodically go there. Sometimes there are a few hundred people, and they take photos of us with those slogans, and then they send them to their friends through their social media sites. The information does spread.
David Ruth believes that Ukraine will win but with the help of the USA and its allies. In his opinion, Ukrainians should receive more advanced weapons, including upgraded tanks, F-16s, long-range tactical missile systems, and the Great Eagle drones.
He is convinced that the United States delayed in helping Ukraine win this war, and it was a very poor strategy.
He opposes those Americans who are against continuing to support Ukraine.
Some American taxpayers, it seems, are upset, they don’t understand that the money going to aid Ukraine is used not only for Ukraine’s benefit, as Ukraine is fighting not only for itself but also for future peace and stability in the world.
“But I believe the key is that Ukraine will win if America and our allies provide it with the necessary weaponry for decisive destruction of the Russian army. It needs to be supplied with more advanced weapons, including upgraded tanks, F-16s, long-range tactical missile systems, and the Great Eagle drones, in order to achieve this,” says David Ruth.
Detroit is helping Kyiv
In Ukraine, 58-year-old American Diana Cancro survived the death of several acquaintances. She has post-traumatic syndrome. This didn’t happen today but many years ago. She has very painful memories of Ukraine. However, she is actively assisting Ukrainians after the full-scale war.
I was introduced to her by former youth movement activist of the early 1990s, Dima Kublytsky, who has been living in the US for 20 years. He said she’s doing tremendous work.
Diana lives with two dogs in her own house in the city of Birmingham, Michigan. She has a 20-year-old daughter, but she already lives separately. There’s a plot of land near the house with several fruit trees. She used to support Republicans but now considers herself independent due to the dominance of Donald Trump in the party, whom she calls a hypocrite.
Diana shares her story while sitting on the porch of her house. She’s drinking coffee and trying to shoo away a fly, but it suddenly falls into her coffee and struggles there. Diana says that when Ukrainian readers learn about this, it will make them laugh, which is already a good thing. She switches her coffee cup.
Diana worked in real estate for over 20 years. Two years ago, a much larger car crashed into her car. Her car was wrecked, and she got injured. This happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she didn’t receive proper medical assistance. She decided she needed to learn to take care of herself. She enrolled in a school to become a massage therapist.
Earlier, at the age of 28, she joined the Peace Corps and went to work in Odesa. This was during the tumultuous 1990s. She worked in a bank. Her boss, a native of Boston named George, died in a car accident. But she is inclined to believe that he was killed.
As locals with ties to the mafia were paying him visits and causing financial-related disputes, he informed her that a price had been put on his head. Additionally, in Odesa, they killed the boss of her friend. When Diana left Ukraine, she decided she would never return there again.
After the outbreak of the full-scale war, Diana got in touch with Valeri, an American who once came to work in Ukraine with her and stayed there. Diana urged her to come back and offered her a place to live.
“I will stay and continue working in Ukraine,” Valeri replied.
And then Diana asked how she could help.
“My heart was breaking because I remembered the people I had seen during my business trip to Lviv. They were singing on the streets there. For them, it was a miracle that they had gained freedom, the opportunity to speak their language, practice their religion, travel abroad, and interact with whomever they wanted. They were grateful to fate for this gift. And now there was a high likelihood that Russians could take away their freedom,” says Diana Cancro.
Valeri found a factory in Ukraine that produced medical tourniquets for stopping bleeding in case of injuries. However, there was a shortage of raw materials. Diana’s family used to have a business in the past where 80 people worked. So, she knew how to find a supplier. And she did it — she convinced the company that manufactured the raw materials to donate 500 yards for Ukrainians. 1 yard is equivalent to 0.91 meters.
Then Diana purchased the raw materials at her own expense. She says she spent $2000. Her 86-year-old mother, Mary Canco, who lives in a senior living facility, collected $2000 among her neighbors and gave it to her daughter.
“There were people there who were 90 years old. They lived through World War II and understood the significance of a new war for the world,” says Diana Cancro.
According to Diana, from her materials, 3000 tourniquets were produced for the military of Ukraine. She says that when the government established the supply of tourniquets, she had other projects. She raised money from friends and acquaintances, and sent essential items to Ukraine.
She provided food for refugees from dangerous areas. She and her friends gathered $9000, bought a medical vehicle in Britain, and sent it to the front lines near Bakhmut.
“Once I saw in the news that the Russians bombed a museum. When I was in college, we had a 90-year-old man teaching us art, who had fled Austria from the Nazis. He said that the best way to understand culture is to understand the paintings that come from that culture. I started looking for Ukrainian artists. I bought 100 works from 32 artists. And they will be exhibited in the Detroit museum in two weeks,” says Diana.
Diana Cancro’s projects are united under the general title “Detroit Helps Kyiv.” They are divided into three directions: supply program, food program, and art program.
“I have post-traumatic stress after Ukraine, I could find a thousand reasons not to help. But someone comes and kills innocent people. Men, women, children, the elderly. As a human being, I am obligated to do everything I can to help these people. As a global citizen, I am obligated to do everything to help. Haven’t we seen this during the Holocaust? Do we want it to happen again? This question is not only about Ukraine. If we allow this to happen (Russia to realize its plans regarding Ukraine), then China will say, ‘Oh, I can take Taiwan.’ And Iran will say, ‘Well, I am stronger than this another country, so I can capture this country.’ This will change the balance of power and the security of the whole world,” Diana confesses.
Attention is waning
After the full-scale war against Ukraine began, there was a surge of support for Ukraine from Americans.
“In the first month since the war started, our foundation received around 10 million dollars. There were checks for 300,000 dollars, and there were letters from children with bills of 3-5 dollars. Many Americans were deeply concerned about Ukraine’s plight. By the end of autumn 2022, we had collected around 40 million dollars,” says Yuri Yankovsky, a resident of Washington and former board member of the United Help Ukraine foundation.
The foundation’s office, located in Washington, is constantly filled with boxes of humanitarian aid sent by citizens from all corners of the United States. If you visit the page of the foundation’s president, Maryna Bayduyk, there is a report about sending aid to Ukraine every few days. In July, there was information that the foundation led by her received an award in the category of Charity in Defense of Ukraine at the National Contest Charity for Ukraine-2022.
However, this year donations have decreased by about half.
Jordan Tama, the Vice Provost for International Affairs at the American University and the author of the influential journal Foreign Affairs, shares that after the large-scale invasion, there were people in his neighborhood in Washington, including himself and his wife, who displayed Ukrainian flags.
“Many Americans believed that a shocking event had occurred and we should demonstrate our support for Ukraine. Some Ukrainians and some Americans did so by donating funds for humanitarian purposes. They allocated money to organizations working to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine or assisting refugees who have left Ukraine,” he asserts.
Jordan Tama believes that now, due to objective reasons, the attention to Ukraine has decreased.
“In February and March 2022, news channels in the US were reporting on the war in Ukraine as the top stories. That’s why everyone was paying attention to it. There are days now when the war in Ukraine is the top news but usually it’s not. Most Americans are not focusing on it. However, they still support Ukraine,” says Jordon Tama.
However, sociological surveys show conflicting results.
At the end of June, the Gallup Institute, which studies public opinion published a survey showing that Americans continue to support Ukraine, but their support has slightly decreased. 62% of Americans are in favor, and 36% are against. Last year in August, it was 66% in favor and 31% against. Support has decreased by 4%, and the number of those who do not support has increased by 5%.
Supporters of different parties have varying views on the war. Among Democrats, there’s no change: both in June of this year and in August of last year, 19% believe that the war should be stopped immediately, even if Ukraine loses its territories, while 79% are for continuing the war until Ukraine regains its territories.
The decrease in support for Ukraine is happening among Republican and independent supporters. Among Republicans, those who favor ending the conflict, even if Ukraine loses territory, are now at 49%, compared to 46% last August. Those who support continuing aid until Ukraine regains territory are now at 47%, while last August it was 50%. Among independents, 43% are in favor of cessation, and 55% are for continuation — last August, these numbers were 38% and 59%, respectively.
The mentioned survey was conducted just before the attempt of the revolt by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Reuters news agency conducted its own survey immediately after Prigozhin’s move, which showed that support for Ukraine rapidly increased to 65%, compared to 46% in May. 81% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans, and 57% of independents expressed support for supplying weapons to Ukraine.
However, CNN released the results of a survey that contradict the two mentioned above. It took place from July 1 to 31. 55% believe that the US Congress should not allow additional funding to support Ukraine, compared to 45% who believe that Congress should allow such funding. And 51% say that the US has already done enough to help Ukraine, while 48% argue that they should do more.
A survey conducted in the early days of the Russian invasion in late February 2022 showed that 62% believed that the United States should have done more.
“Survey results can sometimes heavily depend on how questions are formulated. In this case, however, it’s possible that American support for providing assistance to Ukraine might slightly decrease as Ukraine’s counteroffensive is not progressing as well as many people hoped, and as a result, some may question whether providing additional aid will be fruitful. Like you, I hope that the counteroffensive will make more progress in the coming weeks,” says Jordan Tama.
Americans and Britons continue to support Ukraine, — says British political scientist of Ukrainian descent and author of several books on the Russian-Ukrainian war, Taras Kuzio. And there is a consensus in the elites, despite the presence of a very conservative wing (read about its specifics below) within the Republican Party. Two hypothetical Republican presidential candidates, Mike Pence and Chris Christie, recently visited Kyiv. This demonstrates both the support for Ukraine and its importance in American politics.
But Ukraine should have a greater impact on Western public opinion. Specifically, it should disseminate more information about Russian crimes. American populists declare that Russia should not be defeated because China is more important. Ukrainians should convey the idea that China and Russia are the same. Plus Iran. And Ukraine’s victory over Russia will weaken China. However, the author does not observe proper propaganda from Ukraine in the West. Without such efforts, Ukraine could lose support.
Professor of International Relations at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, Alexandra Chinchilla, has written a series of works dedicated to the Russian-Ukrainian war. They were published in Foreign Affairs. Currently, she is compiling material for a book on this topic and has visited Kyiv.
She hasn’t encountered anyone in the United States who would be against aiding Ukraine. Her colleague since 2022 spends almost all of his non-working time raising funds and purchasing medical equipment for Ukraine. She believes that Americans, while supporting Ukraine, also do not want to be drawn into the conflict.
There are two main differences in the surveys. The first is the time period — June (for the Gallup survey) was at the very beginning of the offensive, while CNN polled people in July, after some news showed that the advance did not meet unrealistically high expectations in the West.
According to Alexandra Chinchilla, the main difference actually lies in the formulation of the questions: the Gallup survey asked about ending the conflict and whether people were against or in favor of supporting Ukraine, while CNN asked if voters were willing to spend more money to support Ukraine. Americans do not support pressuring Ukraine to end the conflict but they also somewhat reluctantly spend taxpayer dollars on what they desire.
Surveys show consistent results regarding domestic issues; voters say they want things like more healthcare but then they don’t want to be taxed more to pay for it. The responses about the United States having done enough to help Ukraine reflect a general misunderstanding of the nature of a prolonged war’s gains. Other public opinion studies indicate that Americans seek quick victories.
“Americans deeply morally support Ukraine, a country they recognize as a shared democracy. Ukrainian flags hang on buildings, in cafés, and in public spaces. American support for Ukraine is genuine and significant. However, Americans often fear extended, open-ended commitments to foreign partners. This is particularly relevant after the global war on terror and the deployment of US military to fight in places most Americans had never heard of, which largely ended in defeat,” Alexandra Chinchilla says.
Alexandra Chinchilla added that she had in mind the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The war in Afghanistan, where Americans fought against the Taliban movement that orchestrated terrorist acts in the US on September 11, 2001, lasted for 20 years. Americans lost 2,500 soldiers there and spent 780 billion dollars. After the withdrawal of American troops, the Taliban swiftly seized control of the country. During the Iraq War from 2003 to 2011, according to the Pentagon, 4,487 American soldiers and 2,097 civilian employees lost their lives.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden emphasized that American soldiers wouldn’t participate in combat operations on Ukrainian soil. At the same time, he promised that Ukraine would have all kinds of support, including financial aid and weapons. He gathered a significant international coalition to support Ukraine. This aligns with the approach mentioned by Alexandra Chinchilla.
Trumpists
Writer Blaine Lee Pardoe emphasizes that he doesn’t want Russia to win but he believes that Ukraine is not capable of winning the war. He is a laureate of literary awards, author of several dozen books, including bestsellers, and he often writes on military history topics. He resides in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Wikipedia states that he is recognized as a conservative. He is skeptical of American news, and in his opinion, the US media is overly sympathetic to the Ukrainian perspective.
The writer places the blame for the war on both Russia and NATO.
“The reason for the war,” he says, “is simply Russia’s attempt to restore its former glory. Russia also felt squeezed by NATO, which hastened its invasion into Ukraine. Russia had been claiming for years that NATO expansion was a threat in its view. Part of this was provoked by NATO’s acceptance of new member countries. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but we are by no means innocent in this bloody affair.”
But what about the violation of the world order established after the Second World War? Don’t you think that Ukraine’s defeat will lead to dictatorial regimes around the world taking inspiration from this fact and becoming more active?” The author asked him.
“I don’t think it will inspire others right now, except for China. China’s ambitions regarding Taiwan have been fueled by this war and our poor response to the conflict. Ukraine can’t win. It would be better for them to preserve what they have right now than to continue fighting and lose everything,” Blaine Lee Pardoe believes.
Upon author’s request for an explanation of why he doesn’t believe Ukraine is capable of winning, he wrote a five-point text on Facebook Messenger.
- Labor resources. Russia has a two-million-strong army that hasn’t been mobilized in this war. Ukraine is running out of personnel. Russia, in a defensive position, aims to strike with a personnel and equipment force three to four times larger, which needs to be pushed back. Ukraine has demonstrated its inability to assemble sufficient forces to break through or exploit any gaps. The only way for Ukraine to increase its manpower is to involve armies of other countries to fight on its behalf.
- Wars aren’t won with weapons alone. The counteroffensive, heavily publicized, barely progressed after starting. Leopard and Bradley tanks were disabled within 12 days of the offensive with significant personnel losses.
- Air forces. The main part of the Russian aviation hasn’t been deployed yet. They have a five-to-one advantage in aircraft. I know you’ll say that the US is planning to send F-16s. To train an American pilot to be effective in combat takes a whole year. Any Ukrainian pilots operating these planes will have significantly less experience.
- Skill on the edge. The stance of the West and Ukraine is that they won’t accept any peace without Russia relinquishing everything it’s gained. This puts Russia in a situation where it has no incentive to not continue waging a war of attrition, which Ukraine can’t afford.
- The Wagner Group still exists. Russia’s finest fighting force was pulled from the front based on this false attempt at a coup. This gives them time to rest and regroup for a new offensive. This false myth of a coup is prompting Wagner to prepare for another offensive operation.
Do you believe that Donald Trump, if elected, will end this war within 24 hours, as he promises during meetings with voters?
Not within 24 hours. He might be able to achieve a ceasefire and at least get both sides to sit down for talks. Nobody else is insisting on this except Trump. Everyone else wants to fuel military efforts that are simply killing more people on both sides. Jordan Tama, the Vice Provost of the School of International Service at American University, agrees that Republicans used to have a much more hawkish stance towards Russia (the Soviet Union, to be precise) than Democrats. Now they have switched places. In his view, the Trump effect influenced the Republicans’ position.
I’ll remind you that during the 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump stated in an ABC interview that Crimeans themselves want to remain under Russia’s control, and he would look into recognizing Russia’s control over that territory. During his time in office, he was noted for his favorable rhetoric towards Russia and Vladimir Putin. However, unlike his Democratic predecessor Obama, he provided Javelin missiles to Ukraine as part of military assistance.
He also blocked the construction of the unprofitable Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline for Ukraine, a project involving Germany and Russia. On the eve of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, he called Putin’s decision to incorporate the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” into Russia ingenious. After the invasion, he voiced the idea of an immediate need to cease the war.
There are still many Republicans who are staunchly anti-Russia, especially some of the senior Republican leaders. For example, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, remains strongly anti-Russian.
See also: Nuclear madness of Putin and the American Nuclear Society. What unites them?
However, Donald Trump took a position during his 2016 presidential campaign that was quite unusual for a Republican — he said he wanted to work with Vladimir Putin. Starting in 2022, he held the view that the United States shouldn’t strongly support Ukraine. His position was that what was happening in Ukraine was not our affair. Some other Republicans followed his lead as well.
Mayor
The most striking encounter the author of the article had took place in the town of Hillsboro in Loudoun County, Virginia. About 200 people live there. While on the way to West Virginia with his colleague, they suddenly saw the word “hope” painted in Ukrainian national colors. Along the road, Ukrainian flags were hanging. On the return journey, they decided to find out what it meant. Local residents directed they to the town hall. At the doorstep stood a tall, gray-haired man. It turned out to be the mayor himself.
“Why do you have so many Ukrainian flags? Are there ethnic Ukrainians living here?”
“No, we are showing solidarity with the Ukrainians.”
Mayor Roger Vance is 67 years old. In 1989, he visited Kyiv. At that time, he was a journalist and wrote for tourist magazines. He began his journey to the Soviet Union, which was in its final years, in Moscow, then moved on to Kyiv. He traveled by the steamship Oleksandr Hlushkov down to Odesa. He, of course, wrote a report about Kyiv. He mentioned that you would have to look for it in old magazines.
“When it happened on February 24. Kyiv was on the brink of falling. I, like many others, felt helpless. We had a natural urge to come together and show support. I had the initial idea of displaying the Ukrainian flag. I projected it onto the wall of the Old Stone School. About 20,000 people pass by us every day. They stopped, thanked us, and wanted to help in some way,” the mayor says.
The following week, the residents of Hillsboro held a candlelight vigil.
“It was during that time that my then-deputy Amy Marasco and I came up with the idea that we should organize an event. We should host a concert. So, in a matter of a few days, we developed the concept of ‘Ukraine Aid’,” added the mayor.
Local media helped promote this idea. Many volunteers were involved in organizing the event. Local music bands were invited, and on April 2, 2022, a concert took place where residents from surrounding towns and villages gathered. As a result, $20,000 was collected to support Ukraine. The funds were divided between two charitable organizations providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine: The World Central Kitchen and Save the Children.
On the anniversary of the large-scale invasion on February 24, 2023, an event called Art of War took place in Hillsboro. The local website City Lifestyle wrote:
The work of young Swedish artist Ludwig Odman formed the basis of the show. He is married to Ukrainian artist Anastasiia Polubotko. At first, Ludwig was affected by the Russian invasion and began painting sketches to uplift his mood. His works quickly evolved into an effective accentuation of Russia’s role in the conflict, and as it came to life, he decided to draw one caricature by hand each day. As the war continued, Ludwig’s collection unfortunately grew. His book, Ukrainian Drawings, titled “Special Operations,” was released before the anniversary of the invasion.
Ludwig sold hundreds of his prints to buy vans for use in Ukraine as makeshift ambulances or rapid response vehicles. When the first ambulance was purchased, Ludwig himself drove it from Norrköping, Sweden.
The February event helped raise $10,000 in charitable aid for Ukraine.
This is reminiscent of the American Revolution. We wouldn’t have won that revolution without the support of France (referring to how republican France supported the anti-monarchical revolution against the British crown in the USA). There comes a moment when we truly have to defend our values and beliefs. And also recognize the danger: if Russians succeed, the world will change. And we’ll be closer to a global conflict. Ukrainians are fighting for all of us.
We must respect Ukrainians for leading this war with such obvious unity and determination and for sacrificing themselves. Ukrainians are sacrificing for all of us. We have no other choice but to support Ukraine.
The author was deeply moved by the meeting with Roger Vance. There were a few copies of his book in the car that he was presenting in the USA, he gifted a copy, signing it, to the mayor and all the residents of Hillsboro.
Originally posted by Yuriy Lukyanov on Texty.org.ua. Translated and edited by the UaPosition – Ukrainian news and analytics website
See also: Ukrainians thwarted pro-Putin lobby’s plans in the Biden administration, — Piontkovsky
