Karin Chenoweth

Today alone, and in Kyiv alone, Russian jet-powered drones “vanquished” two kindergartens and two schools, an ordinary residential building, an auto repair shop, several warehouses, and communications facilities. Anywhere in the world, this choice of targets would be called by one word – terrorism. Russia has no military objective whatsoever in doing this – it is purely an attempt to break people and inflict as much harm as possible on our society. Tragically, there are people killed… My condolences to their families and loved ones. Dozens of people were injured. Overall, since yesterday, the Russians have used 277 attack drones of various types, 155 of them jet-powered. Among the damaged sites is also a building used as the residence of the Saudi Arabian Ambassador. In the Dnipro region, a sports school is among the damaged facilities. In the Sumy region, the building of a regional children’s home was damaged. If Russia were truly preparing for any real steps toward de-escalation – as it claims, particularly to American negotiators – this wave of “shahed” terror would not be happening. And we need to take a sober view of the situation. Russia knows how to send the kind of encouraging diplomatic signals that the world simply wants to hear… It knows how to send such signals in order to delay tough steps by the world in response to the war. In America, the important Lindsey Graham sanctions and tariffs law has already reached the implementation stage. It is a law that can change a lot for the better if fully implemented. This law needs to be implemented – and everyone in the world can see that there is EVERY REASON to apply it and A CLEAR PURPOSE for doing so. We are counting on effective decisions from the world and stronger pressure from our partners, so that Russia sees that manipulating diplomatic signals will not allow it to keep winning more and more time for war and terror. It is important that our other partners in the G7 and G20 also take a principled stance. New sanctions packages are being prepared – specifically targeting financial networks, supply chains for components and equipment used in the production of Russian weapons, and specific companies and individuals primarily involved in the production of Russian ballistic missiles. The new sanctions must take effect as early as October to provide a stronger foundation for changing the situation and pushing Russia toward real diplomacy. Thank you to everyone who helps Ukraine! Thank you to everyone working 24/7 to provide greater protection for Ukrainians and our state!