Here is how Ukraine can still beat Russia

When you read this, I will just have arrived at the Pearl of the Black Sea, as this historic, much beloved, multiethnic city was known in the peaceful days before Vladimir Putin tried to break it with missiles and drones. Since no Ukrainian airports are open, the route took me by air from New York via Bucharest, Romania, to Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, and then four hours by car across the Ukrainian border to Odesa.

- Trudy Rubin, Tribune News Service

Over the past week, Russia has unleashed a barrage of killer drones and ballistic missiles on Odesa's civilian port, which delivers grain to the world. The attack was part of an unprecedented torrent of drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles that Moscow has rained down on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv.

Putin knows that aside from toothless protestations of “Vladimir, STOP!” President Donald Trump won't interfere. It is painful and embarrassing to be an American in Ukraine now. Friends, colleagues, and contacts here, with whom I have talked in the lead-up to my visit, are simply astonished that a US leader would let Putin humiliate him the way Trump has.

“Russia is so emboldened by Trump. He has given Putin complete carte blanche,” is the common belief. Trump repeatedly promises to sanction Putin if he refuses a ceasefire or serious peace talks, and then backs down when Moscow pours on the missiles. Even as I arrived in Ukraine, Trump, yet again, insisted he had to give Putin more time to see if he was “serious” about ending the war. Trump is clearly unwilling to stand up to the Kremlin boss, and his glaring weakness is evident to the entire world. But beyond the president’s mad obsession about forming an alliance with Putin, Trump has spread dangerous myths to the US public about Ukraine that obscure the importance of that country to our security and global standing. The main reason I am traveling to Ukraine this time is to debunk those myths by describing facts on the ground.