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What I learned in Ukraine: Kyiv has the tech brilliance to force Russia to the table - if Trump would stop backing the Kremlin
KYIV, Ukraine — It’s not easy to get to Ukraine, where the airports have long been closed and where Russia is now targeting the country’s essential railway network, hitting tracks and destroying hundreds of locomotives. On my sixth visit since 2022, I decided to fly to neighboring Moldova and taxi across the border, even though Moscow has been striking the crossings. Just after I entered the country, a Russian drone zeroed in on another international transit point just 30 minutes away, one which my driver had considered using. The drone incinerated three travelers sitting in a bus. In many ways, Ukraine has become a far more dangerous place since I was here in June 2025. During the last two months, a frustrated Vladimir Putin, whose army has been unable to advance on the ground, is trying to break the country’s morale from the air. I saw the results of an unending torrent of Russian drones, cruise missiles, and top-line ballistic missiles - targeting road travel, blowing up highway gas stations, wrecking the ports from which Ukraine exports grain to the world, and hitting civilian apartment blocks in waves in Kyiv and other major cities. By systematically destroying the country’s electricity...