Ukraine’s Kinetic Sanctions Against Russia’s Shadow Fleet

And I just think that, particularly considering

their resources, everything looks, to me,

like the Ukrainians are winning.

And I particularly salute the work

that they've done on the Russian shadow fleet.

I think somebody called them the Ukrainian Kinetic Sanctions

Program.

And it's actually been quite effective,

not only against the affected vessels,

but against the insurance and support networks that

are behind those ships.

They've dramatically raised the cost

and shrunk the availability of shadow fleet ships

to feed Russia's revenue machine in oil sales.

And even there, again, you see the Ukrainians

going out of their way to minimize casualties

and even to protect against oil spills.

They're in a war for their lives.

They were frozen through the winter

by attacks on civilian electricity infrastructure.

The maternity hospitals are being bombed.

The Russians are kidnapping Ukrainian children

and sending them to unwelcomed foreign homes.

And in that context of battle, they

care to take the trouble to make sure

that they're only destroying the steering and guidance

systems of the ship.

If they have figured out how to get on board and sabotage

the ship from within, they make sure

that they leave the explosive device in a place

where, when they detonate it, it will not harm crew members.

So bravo to them.

And onward with the kinetic sanctions program.

And thank you again to Ukraine for demonstrating

that even in the midst of a brutal attack,

you can still see the humane and decent people.

Ukraine makes me proud to be a human being.

That's where we are.