Letter From the Editors
A hilarious conversation in the Ukrainian comedy show “Servant of the People” takes place in English. The fictional president (played by Vladimir Zelensky) gets a call on his mobile phone from Angela Merkel, who tells him his country has been accepted into the European Union. After President Holoborodko’s initial rush of jubilation, he realizes that the call was a prank – upon hanging up, he yells: “You f***ing Putin!”
Nothing quite that embarrassing has happened to Zelensky in the last two weeks, but several media stories have thrown some shade at him and his government. First came the protests in several Ukrainian cities after he dismissed defense minister Mikhail Fyodorov. Russian pundits rushed in with theories of political rivalry: For example, Anton Bespalov said that Fyodorov had stolen Zelensky’s thunder in badmouthing now-former UAF commander Aleksandr Syrsky, who “looked like a convenient figure who could be blamed for setbacks on the frontline, if necessary. Zelensky could have done that himself, but Fyodorov moved several steps ahead, . . . publicly airing his complaints against the commander in chief and thus building up his political capital.”
Ivan Skorikov sees the hand of the West in all this intrigue: “Fyodorov is a politician raised by liberal globalist institutions. Protests in his support were inspired by Kiev’s Western handlers as a tough signal to Zelensky to encourage him to correct his domestic policy course.”
The UAF took hits from all over the political spectrum when its drones started bombing warehouses owned by Russia’s two biggest retailers, Wildberries and Miratorg. Novaya gazeta Europe reports: “The Ukrainian military spent the first half of 2026 doing serious damage to . . . the oil industry. Now, it appears to have set its sights on an industry that’s become a keystone of the country’s economy more recently: online retail.” NGE quotes an anonymous expert who points out that the “soft targets” hit so far are minuscule compared to Russia’s total warehouse real estate: “Knocking out that much space would take considerable effort and quite a bit of time. So I don’t think events like this could trigger any kind of logistical collapse or seriously affect retail turnover overall.”
Russian military expert Ruslan Pukhov expresses a similar opinion, but in stronger terms: “Unable to win on the battlefield, Ukraine has adopted the concept of asymmetric warfare and is seeking to undermine Russia’s economic stability by damaging its core industries – a goal that is hardly achievable.” Pukhov adds: “We don’t know what Kiev might hit next. . . . Any guess would be mere speculation at this point.”
Who would have speculated that the Ukrainian military would reach far beyond Russian lines? On July 25, long-range drones struck an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea. Fahil Abdulkareem writes that one sailor died in the attack, and that Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Kiev of staging a dangerous provocation. However, Kiev says the attack “was a legitimate action to disrupt supply networks allegedly transporting weapons between Tehran and Moscow.” Several experts consulted by Abdulkareem see a link between two major conflicts: They believe Kiev’s show of force against Iran is designed to bolster the Trump administration’s support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also blamed the EU for the attack, describing it as “a blatant violation of the UN Charter . . . to drag Europe into its war.”
It’s hard to imagine the EU working hand in glove with Kiev, though, after the association’s Enlargement Working Group decided July 22 to postpone opening the next round of negotiations for Ukraine’s long-awaited accession. According to NG, the vote was blocked by Hungary, just as in the days of Viktor Orban.
If Zelensky gets an unexpected phone call from Peter Magyar anytime soon, he’d better check the caller ID.