After Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb damaged more than 40 Russian strategic bombers on June 1, former President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for 75 minutes. Trump said Putin warned he would “have to respond.” In the following days, Russian missiles struck Ukrainian apartments and cafes. Trump described the war as “two young children fighting like crazy” in a park, adding that “sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while.”
The Kremlin welcomed Trump’s comments, and many Western media outlets labeled Russia’s attacks as “retaliation.” However, using the language of the aggressor risks excusing war crimes. At best, it is careless reporting; at worst, it is a form of complicity.
This episode highlights a recurring issue in Western coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Many fail to clearly define Russia’s invasion as an illegal and criminal act. Whether due to ignorance, indifference, or a hope for normalizing relations, this failure sends a message of weakness and moral uncertainty to Moscow.
While Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb was a notable event, Russian suicide drones, guided bombs, and ballistic missiles continue to strike Ukrainian cities with regularity. These attacks often cause casualties that no longer make headlines, but their human toll is immense. In the strikes following Spiderweb, a young couple, Mykola and Ivanna, who planned to marry, were killed when their apartment building collapsed after a missile hit in Lutsk. In Kharkiv, a 1.5-month-old baby and a 14-year-old girl were among 21 wounded in the city’s heaviest bombardment since the full-scale invasion began. A seven-year-old boy was injured when missiles struck near his school. These are not just numbers; they are people, children whose faces will never grow older.
Russia cannot claim to be a victim of its own war. Just as a criminal cannot claim to be the victim of the crime they commit, Russia is the aggressor in this unprovoked conflict. By international law and simple logic, only Ukraine can retaliate; Russia cannot. Yet some media outlets blur this distinction. The Washington Post recently described Ukraine’s defensive strikes as part of a “dirty war,” implying moral equivalence with Russia’s widespread targeting of civilians. This misleading framing serves Kremlin propaganda.
This is not a conflict between equals. It is a war of conquest. There is no dispute or misunderstanding here. Russia invaded to destroy Ukrainian independence and identity, and Ukraine fights for survival. Since 2014, Russia has killed Ukrainians for the simple reason that they are Ukrainian. The alternative to resistance is not peace, but annihilation.
Russia’s war combines military attacks with information warfare — disinformation, sabotage, and covert operations — as part of the Gerasimov Doctrine. The real problem is not Russia’s tactics, but that Western media and commentators often amplify them. By repeating Kremlin talking points, the West lends legitimacy to lies and weakens its own public discourse.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov seized on Trump’s analogy, calling the war “existential” for Russia. In reality, the war is existential only for Ukraine. For Russia, it is a choice. Moscow could end it at any time, but each day it continues, more war crimes follow. When Western leaders imply that both sides share equal blame, they reinforce a central Kremlin falsehood.
Despite Ukraine’s urgent requests for help, the United States recently diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles away from Ukraine. What Washington calls “balance,” Moscow sees as permission. Under international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense against Russia’s illegal aggression. Russian attacks — whether launched with Iranian drones or North Korean artillery — are acts of ongoing war, not responses.
To call these attacks retaliation legitimizes the destruction Russia has caused. Former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev warned that if Russia wins in Ukraine, it will become a militarized dictatorship built on corruption and anti-Western hatred. Today’s threats of nuclear war will become real.
Since Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, the West has hesitated repeatedly. Now, the world faces a choice: resist Russian aggression or accept the rise of a brutal authoritarian regime. The opportunity to act remains. But if the West fails, it will have only itself to blame.
