Stand With Ukraine

Ukraine’s Fight Is Our Fight

By Dave Karson | Candidate for Congress, CA-41
May 21, 2025

A HIMARS rocket arcs across the sky — then, silence.
Moments later, a Russian ammunition depot vanishes in a fireball. The ground shakes. A mushroom cloud of destruction rises, swallowing millions of dollars in Russian military equipment. It’s a stunning sight. But make no mistake: this is not about explosions. It’s about justice.

That rocket wasn’t just destroying weapons.
It was defending children. It was protecting hospitals. It was revenge — for the mothers raped, the grandfathers executed in cold blood, the POWs shot with their hands behind their backs.

This is the war that too many Americans have forgotten — or worse, deliberately misunderstood.

The Atrocities Are Real

Since February 2022, when Russia launched its brutal and unprovoked invasion, we’ve seen a level of barbarity in Europe not witnessed since World War II.

Russian soldiers have abducted Ukrainian children by the tens of thousands.
They’ve executed surrendering prisoners — on camera.
They’ve used rape as a weapon of war.
They’ve shelled hospitals, bombed apartment buildings, and reduced entire neighborhoods to ash.

This isn’t a gray-area war. It is not “both sides.”
This is evil — with coordinates and a Kremlin return address.

Ukraine Has Fought Like Lions

And yet, Ukraine has not collapsed.
Ukraine has stood.
It has bled, burned, broken — and stood again.

In just over three years, Ukraine has destroyed more than half of Russia’s conventional military power. According to battlefield data:

3,700+ Russian tanks obliterated
8,000+ armored fighting vehicles reduced to rubble
300+ aircraft and helicopters downed
Dozens of ships and much of the Black Sea Fleet sent to the bottom

These are not just numbers. They’re proof: Ukraine is fighting — and winning — the most successful resistance to a nuclear power in modern history.

And they’ve done it with far less than we spent in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, or Vietnam.

The Price Tag — And The Lies

Let’s get one thing straight: Trump keeps ranting that we’ve spent $300 billion on Ukraine. That is a lie.

The real number?
Roughly $183 billion since February 2022.
That includes military aid, humanitarian support, and economic assistance — to help a democratic ally survive a genocidal war.

For comparison:

We spent $2 trillion in Afghanistan
Another $2+ trillion in Iraq
And over $1 trillion fighting the Vietnam War

Ukraine, by contrast, has done more damage to a hostile enemy with a fraction of that budget — and without a single American boot on the ground.

So let’s cut the “too expensive” nonsense. This is the best return on strategic investment in a generation.

The Real Threat: Disinformation

So why are so many Americans turning against Ukraine?

Because Russia wants them to — and Trump is helping them.

Russian propaganda is flooding social media with lies:

That Zelensky’s wife bought a Ferrari with U.S. aid (she didn’t)
That Ukraine is hopelessly corrupt (it isn’t)
That Zelensky started the war (he didn’t — Putin did)

Fox News mocks Zelensky for not wearing a tie. Trump calls him a dictator. Meanwhile, Trump refuses to criticize Putin, delays weapons, shouts at allies, and even demands Ukraine repay our support with rare earth mineral rights.

That’s not diplomacy. That’s extortion.

History Repeats — If We Let It

Let me remind you what happened the last time the West demanded war reparations.

After World War I, the Allies imposed crushing debt on Germany. That debt helped plunge Germany into economic despair — and out of that despair rose Adolf Hitler.

We’ve seen what appeasement and humiliation bring.
We know what happens when you punish the victim and placate the aggressor.

And yet, Trump is doing just that.
He sides with Putin, our enemy.
He treats Zelensky like the problem.
He’s gutting military aid, pulling us out of war crimes investigations, and abandoning our allies.

We Either Stand With Ukraine — Or We Stand For Sale

This is not just about Ukraine.
This is about what kind of nation we are.

Do we stand with the brave?
With the free?
With the people who choose democracy even when the bombs fall?

Or do we sell them out for a fake ceasefire and a slice of lithium?

I’m Dave Karson, running for Congress in CA-41. And I promise you: if I get to Washington, I will stand with Ukraine — not just in speeches, but in policy, in funding, in facts, and in full-throated moral clarity.

Because freedom doesn’t defend itself.
And appeasement is not peace — it’s surrender with a smile.