During a heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian president of leading “propaganda tours” of Russia’s destruction in the country. Zelensky, in turn, asked Vance if he had ever been to Ukraine.
Of course, Vance’s criticism of Ukraine is not new. In a New York Times op-ed released in April 2024, Vance argued that America shouldn’t help Ukraine, citing the burden of producing weapon systems like 155 mm shells and Patriot missiles. He suggested that the U.S. should pressure Ukraine to surrender territory it has lost to Russia and claimed that supporting Ukraine “doesn’t add up.”
Before Vance makes further assumptions and jeopardizes diplomatic relations with Ukraine, I’m pleading — with all due respect, as a fellow Ohioan — for him to do what I did: travel to Ukraine and visit the town of Bucha, located in the suburbs of Kyiv. Bucha is the site of some of the first war crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine, uncovered in the initial months of the full-scale war.
Seeing Bucha will help Vance understand that this war is about more than just territory; it’s a war between good and evil.
I’m not an aid worker or foreign fighter. My visit to Ukraine was personal. In the early 2000s, as a record executive for Universal Music Group, I helped develop Ukraine’s music industry. In May 2023, after more than a year of full-scale war, I traveled to Kyiv to check on my colleagues. I took the Kyiv Express, a 17-hour train from Warsaw to Kyiv. I saw destruction everywhere: bombed-out apartment buildings, malls, and machine gun-riddled cars and homes. Even a statue of the poet Taras Shevchenko had been shot up in the Borodianka town square.
In the territories Vance wants to hand over to Russia, war crimes have been committed daily for over two years — including torture, executions, and the kidnapping of children.
One of my colleagues offered to bring me to Bucha. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. I visited the site where mass graves were uncovered behind the local church. I spoke with an elderly church worker who survived the massacre by hiding in the basement for days. Listening to her terrifying account and seeing the destruction firsthand made it clear to me: this is a war of good versus evil.
Bucha is one of many reasons why Ukraine cannot simply surrender territory to Russia. The war crimes uncovered in Bucha were revealed only after the Russian army was driven out, three months after its occupation. In the territories Vance wants to hand over to Russia, war crimes have been committed daily for over two years — including torture, executions, and the kidnapping of children. By suggesting America should pull back from helping Ukraine, Vance risks ignoring these atrocities.
As a loyal Republican, Vance would do well to look to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan for inspiration. Reagan confronted evil with steely determination, resulting in the end of the Cold War. For Reagan, American values justified confronting the Soviet Union — not excuses like production problems in weapons factories. Reagan, who loved Ohio and won the state’s presidential election twice, understood the crucial role Ohio’s military bases and weapons manufacturing played in the Cold War. But if Reagan were here today, I believe he would strongly disagree with Vance’s policy of weakness.
As a fellow Ohioan, I don’t understand Vance’s weak view of America. I grew up on a family farm in central Ohio, but we were both raised with the same Midwestern values — to support good and confront evil. And what the Russian army is doing in Ukraine is among the greatest evils of this century. Both of us learned about Ohio’s greatest figures in public schools, from abolitionists Harriet Beecher Stowe and Sojourner Truth to astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong — individuals who demonstrated courage and bravery.
Most of Vance’s constituents in Ohio support Ukraine. The Midwest is the heartland, and Ohioans consider ourselves the heart of America. What happened to your heart, Vance?
Come to Bucha, Vance. You may find it there.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.
Mariam Nikuradze
