Russia fired a massive 367 drones and missiles on thirty Ukrainian cities and villages after sundown on May 24. It was the worst aerial onslaught on Ukraine since the war began on February 24, 2022, which resulted in the death of “at least 12 people and injuring dozens” not to mention all of the extensive urban property destruction.
According to the New York Times, “over the past week, Russia has directed at least 1,390 drones [my emphasis] and 94 missiles [my emphasis] at targets across Ukraine … killing at least 30 civilians and [injuring] more than 163.” These vicious attacks and the subsequent fires were highly reminiscent of the Nazi Luftwaffe’s (Air Force) Blitz during the Battle of Britain from September 1940 to May 1941.
Putin’s malevolent attack on May 24 occurred just hours after a welcomed prisoner swap over three days of one thousand soldiers. What especially angered President Zelensky was the lack of “international condemnation against Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin.” I cannot blame Zelensky for his outrage and diplomatic abandonment.
The Ukrainian president also accurately stated, “‘The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin,’” who has dictatorially ruled Russia under the phony guise of “democracy” either as president or de facto president (prime minister) since 1999. Putin is truly a brutal warmonger and homicidal tyrant responsible for the attempted assassination and death of interminable opposition leader Alexei Navalny among many other poisoned, exiled and murdered politicians.
Earth to President Trump: Vladimir Putin is NOT your friend. Putin is just another malignant appendage in Satan’s Trinity of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin.
Putin’s gift of a portrait on April 22 by famed Russian artist Nikas Safronov of Trump “raising his fist on [the] stage after the assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally” on July 13, 2024 was nothing more than Putin insincerely trying to ingratiate himself or win Trump’s favor while appealing to his oversized ego.
I can only say beware of the Kremlin bearing gifts.
Something tells me that Putin is not exactly following the military strategy of “escalate to de-escalate.” It appears that the Kremlin wants to acquire as much eastern Ukrainian real estate as possible before there is any possible ceasefire, which seems increasingly in the far distant future, which tragically might not be until August or later. I sincerely hope that I am wrong on my prediction.
It presently appears that Putin has no interest in peace.
It especially appears that special envoy Steve Witkoff‘s diplomatic negotiations with Putin have miserably failed. It is not surprising since Witkoff has no previous diplomatic experience, and he is an amateur. It also appears that Putin does not respect Trump like our president has naïvely respected him.
In fact, I strongly suspect that Putin may indeed have pure contempt for Trump underneath his wily and duplicitous KGB smile.
Since Saturday Zelensky has angrily “slammed the U.S. and its allies over their apparent “‘silence’” following Moscow’s attacks.” I agree 100% because the White House is starting to look like a bunch of gullible fools or chumps to Moscow.
Trump needs to appoint a national security advisor as soon as possible because his Reaganesque mantra of “peace through strength” is starting to sound like a cliché and trite. Putin is keenly aware that the U.S. utterly failed in both South Vietnam in April 1975 and Afghanistan in August 2021 because of a chronic lack of White House and Congressional willpower to win a war.
Trump proudly stated on May 24 before the graduating class of West Point, “From Lexington to Yorktown, from Gettysburg to Sicily, and from Inchon to Fallujah, America has been won and saved by an unbroken chain of soldiers and patriots who ran to the sound of the guns, leapt into the maw of battle, and charged into the crucible of fire to seize the crown of victory — no matter the odds, no matter the cost, no matter the danger.”
I think that Putin might have found this part of Trump’s speech quasi-humorous after our eight unfortunate military debacles (or impotence) since 1945. These undeclared wars or battles certainly included Korea (1950-1953), Bay of Pigs (1961), the aforementioned South Vietnam (1955-1975), Somalia (1993), Iraq (2003-2011), the aforementioned Afghanistan (2001-2021), Iran (1979-2024), and the insidious Mexican cartels (1989-2025).
Putin has no respect for Pax Americana. That is because he only respects force and economic pain.
As of March 7, 2025 the Kremlin has violated at least twenty-five ceasefires since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Putin’s intransigence and arrogance were thoroughly epitomized when he refused to meet with Zelensky for peace talks in Ankara, Turkey on May 15.
It is now time to sanction Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, and slowly destroy the Kremlin’s economy, which is extremely dependent upon oil exports. That would truly be a demonstration of “peace through strength” not only to Russia but their allies of Iran, North Korea and Communist China.
Throughout the 2020 presidential campaign, Trump arrogantly promised that he would end the war on “day one” of his second administration. Well, 130 days have passed as of May 29, and there is still no ceasefire in Ukraine. What is most disturbing is that the president “has now suggested he could walk away entirely from the negotiating table.” That is a highly ambiguous and worrisome statement.
Trump is hopefully realizing Putin’s true intention of territorial expansion when he stated on May 26, “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
Now is the time to join the U.K. in imposing severe economic sanctions “against Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” … targeting the roughly 200 ships used to transport Russian oil across the globe.” That would also include 500% tariffs on countries that accept the Russian oil as advocated by acting national security advisor and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Robert L. Maronic