Anne Applebaum: The Ukraine war grows deadlier

by Anne Applebaum, the American-British journalist and author, a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian

Source: Applebaum on Substack

Since Trump’s election in 2024, the Russian army has made very little progress on the battlefield. But airstrikes aimed at civilians have increased dramatically — doubling between Trump’s inauguration and August — and in recent months have aimed to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The result has been nationwide blackouts during an especially frigid winter, a strategy aimed at breaking civilian morale.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has now drawn attention to the absurdity of the administration’s logic:

Why has Trump’s year of negotiations been the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion? The number of deaths and injuries has increased by 31 percent compared to the previous year.

Why did Putin not allow himself such brutal strikes on civilian infrastructure under Biden, whom Trump calls “weak,” but totally destroys peaceful cities and disregards the “strong Trump”?

These are the right questions — and Matviichuk already knows the answers. Putin has expanded both the scope and intensity of his attacks on Ukrainian civilian life because the American president has repeatedly signaled that he will pay no price for doing so. Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska, and has now hung a photograph taken that day on a wall in the White House. 

While Putin is indulged, Zelensky is sidelined. The United States now openly threatens the sovereign territory of Denmark, while senior administration officials broadcast their animosity toward Europe. Deterrence collapses when contempt replaces commitment.

As I’ve written, Trump’s indulgence of the Russian president is prolonging the war. And in exchange for what? Steve Witkoff, his envoy, is known to be negotiating business deals with the Russians, perhaps for himself, or his family, or Trump’s family or their friends. 

This week, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the deals on offer are worth $12 trillion. As the activist and writer Bill Browder points out, that’s five times Russia’s current GDP. The sums are ludicrous but the danger is real: Trump’s envoys are trying to sell out Ukraine for personal gain.

This is a historic betrayal of America and America’s allies. It’s also corruption on a scale we have never seen before in American history. Trump’s administration, and his party, are letting it happen, hardly speaking about it at all.

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