Ukrainian soldiers have called Donald Trump's decision to suspend military aid crucial to them fighting Vladimir Putin's forces as a "betrayal" that they couldn't have foreseen even in their worst dreams.
One officer, a colonel who uses the call sign "Roman" and is close to Ukraine’s military general staff – with special responsibility for weapons procurement – said: “Nobody predicted that Trump would do something like this. We thought that there would be understanding from his administration about Ukraine’s situation and a comprehension of who was the aggressor and who was the victim. I couldn’t imagine this happening even in a nightmare.
"I think that most Ukrainians take this as a betrayal - it would be difficult to describe it in other terms. But they blame Trump and his administration rather than America as a whole," Colonel Roman added. He said that among among priority items that will need replacement are missiles and equipment for Ukraine’s air-defence systems, most urgently American-supplied Patriots.
This view is backed by other troops. A senior sergeant with the call sign “Bora” who has spent time with Ukraine’s special forces, including a mission to occupied Crimea, spoke to The Independent from near the frontlines in the eastern Donetsk region.
He said: “I was shocked that Trump, president of a country that has been Ukraine’s friend and whom we regarded as a close ally and an inspiration of freedom, could abandon us this way. I want to believe this is a temporary thing and that most Americans still support Ukraine.
“Three years of war in Ukraine have meant three years of pain, losses and resilience," Sergeant Bora said. These three years have shown that evil does not stop by itself. It can’t be stilled by compromises or negotiations. One can only defeat it.”
A soldier-doctor with the rank of lieutenant and the call sign “Volvo”, who supervises the evacuation of wounded soldiers from the frontlines around the city of Kupiansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region, admitted the suspension of American supplies had come as a nasty shock.
Lieutenant Volvo said: “Of course, this is a bad development and we’re disappointed. But we’re not throwing up our hands and giving up."
“We’re putting our faith in our own strength and the support of our European allies because it’s not only America that’s been backing us but a significant number of Europe’s leading and most progressive nations.”
He said his fellow soldiers are not blaming the entire American nation "for the actions of one person called Trump” as the noise of exploding Russian shells provide a constant backdrop to his words.
Lieutenant Volvo was certain that Ukrainian forces have sufficient stockpiles of ammunition and other supplies to ensure there would not be an imminent Russian breakthrough around Kupiansk, which has been one of the fiercest and most prolonged battles since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
But the soldiers spoke about fears around air defences, logistics and intelligence – particularly that gathered by satellite – areas Washington have particularly taken the lead on in supplying Ukraine.
Colonel Roman said: “If they deny us intelligence help that would be a very serous blow. Because this importantly plays into the planning and the conduct of military operations. The loss of such intelligence might not be disastrous but it’ll certainly hurt.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Volvo said he was worried if Ukraine’s access to Starlink was switched off. “For me, as a commander of medical facilities and evacuation of the wounded, communications is vital. We’ve heard about the possibility that as part of the pressure on Zelensky to fall in line with Trump’s plans, Starlink might be switched off. That’s very concerning.”
All soldiers reiterated that continued support from European allies such as the UK was vital. Colonel Roman did not foresee a collapse in morale “to a disastrous extent as long as our European allies continue to stand beside us and boost the quantity of their military aid.”
But he lamented: “It is a very sad story when the country which has been the model for freedom and democracy is not going to support a country which has subscribed to Western-European and American values and has been spilling its blood and losing many of its people to defend those values.”
Sergeant Bora added: “The question today isn’t whether it’s worth stopping Russia, it’s how many more deaths, destroyed cities and ruined futures must there be before the world understands this is a war of civilisation against barbarity? We either defeat Russia or they will continue to destroy everything around them.”
A Ukrainian marines captain with the call sign “Trybun” said that he was confident that Ukraine’s other allies in Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and elsewhere would not abandon Ukraine.
Ukraine had no choice, he said, but to carry on fighting because “Putin wants to wipe us off the world map completely. To eliminate out identity, our culture, our language - everything that speaks of Ukraine," the soldier said.
“Therefore, we will fight with what we have. Simple and that's it.”
