Kharkiv, Ukraine — Overnight news that the White House has ordered the suspension of all military aid to Ukraine has been met with horror here and across Ukraine.
The city of Kharkiv sits about 20 miles from the Russian border and remains under relentless attack from Russian missiles. Russian troops have advanced to within about 12 miles of the outskirts. “Of course, hearing this news makes us feel less safe,” said student Sonya, “But our psychological systems have overcome so many things in the past few years; this is just another shock to process.”
The city already struggles with defending itself from almost nightly Russian rocket attacks, and any weakening of its air defenses will mean more civilian casualties. Kharkiv’s city center has been bombarded several times this week. A hospital, supermarket, and residential buildings were hit.
Some locals say they weren’t surprised at the announcement after seeing last Friday’s toe-curling White House press conference where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked United States Vice President JD Vance, “Have you ever been to Ukraine to see the problems we have?” Vance replied, “I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people on a propaganda tour, Mr. President.”
For people in Kharkiv, being bombed isn’t propaganda, and they depend on U.S. weapons systems to defend them. Everyday conversations are often paused mid-sentence as people stop to identify suspicious sounds and decide whether to take shelter. Many of the rockets hit the city before the air raid warning alarms can be activated.
Locals are all too familiar with the sounds of various rockets after three years of bombardments, from the whoosh of the glide bombs to what one described as the “angry refrigerator” sound of the Shahed missiles, used with increasing frequency against the city.
“I think this decision by Washington was predictable and expected,” said Denys, a man in his 20s in Kyiv. “Even before the tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, U.S.-Ukrainian relations were rapidly deteriorating. Now we see that the American President wants to end the war at the expense of Ukraine and its territory without giving any guarantees that Russia won’t come back to occupy new territories after a time. It’s always easier to put pressure on the weaker one and push him to surrender than to make equal demands of Russia and Ukraine. This is what is happening now.”
Others I spoke to reacted with a facepalm. One guy said, “No, I don’t want to talk about Trump or think about Trump.” National media outlet Kyiv Independent has published a piece aimed at Americans called 5 Ways You Can Support Ukraine Even if Your Government Doesn’t Want To.
Serhii in Kharkiv framed last night’s announcement in a bigger picture: “Global democracies are at risk of collapsing as erosion of values brings frustration because of a lack of action and leadership. So, we will all have a less secure and stable world. Ukraine can be destroyed and squeezed by global powers for transactional speculative interests, seen as an unnecessary and inconvenient actor. We need to work more to protect our survival agenda.”
A student in his 20s complained that the suspension of military aid was another example of how “geopolitics has stolen our youth. But we’ve come a long, hard road already, and we have to carry on — what else can we do?”
A common reaction today was one of anger mixed with stoicism. “Some of us thought that when Trump won, there was a possibility it might be good for Ukraine,” said Sonya. “Not now. This new announcement is another blow, and we have to protect our nervous systems – we know that if we panic, it won’t help.”
