Ukrainians watch closely as the US votes for a new president
As Americans head to the polls to choose a new president, Ukrainians are keeping a close eye on the result and how it will affect foreign policy and assistance for Ukraine.
Kyiv’s central Maidan Square is where the state violently cracked down on protesters during Ukraine’s 2014 revolution. These days, it’s full of faces: pictures of those who’ve died in the war in a sea of fluttering flags. Ukraine’s blue and yellow are most prevalent, but a few stars and stripes can also be seen, representing fallen Americans.
A memorial for Pete Reed, an American medic who was killed while aiding wounded civilians in eastern Ukraine in February 2023, stands in a sea of fluttering flags at the Maidan.Emily Johnson/The World
A stone’s throw away from the square, journalists recently busied themselves preparing a news radio program. Kyrylo Loukerenko, the executive director of Hromadske Radio, said their listeners are paying close attention to what will unfold in the United States.
Americans aren’t the only ones obsessively watching every move that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump make. Ukrainians are following US news almost as closely as their own because what Americans decide could quite literally be a matter of life and death for them.
“Ukrainian audiences are thinking about the war,” Loukerenko said. “They view the US elections in relation to what’s going on on the frontlines. And they are interested in US support in the Ukrainian existential struggle. This is a very, very direct connection.”
Listen at The World.