Just when sensible people might conclude that American or European members of Ukraine’s sycophantic fan club cannot become even more detached from reality, a prominent member of the club proves the opposite. This time, it is conservative pundit David French, who wins the prize in his April 26, 2026, New York Times column, “Meet the New Leader of the Free World.” That leader is Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
French contends that “A remarkable thing has happened on the world’s battlefields. Ukraine – a nation that was supposed to dissolve within days of a Russian invasion – has fought Russia to a stalemate, revolutionizing land warfare in the process. It has become an indispensable security partner in the Western alliance, including in the war against Iran.”
But according to French, such military resilience barely begins to measure the extent of Volodymyr Zelensky’s achievements. He also “is taking the next step, one that would have been unthinkable even as recently as 2024. By word and deed, he’s showing Europe and the world how the post-American free world can preserve its liberty and independence.” French then delves into well-worn episodes in which Donald Trump’s administration has alienated, antagonized, and berated America’s longtime NATO allies, thereby provoking Europe to become more self-reliant, as one manifestation of the “post-American” free world.
French seems downright awestruck at Ukraine’s alleged military prowess. “This might be difficult for many readers to grasp – given our nation’s longstanding military supremacy – but the largest and most battle-hardened land force in the Western world may well be the Ukrainian Army.” He adds that “It’s also worth noting that the U.S. forces have much less combat experience than Ukraine forces – especially when it comes to combat with a great power.”
But there’s more! Ukraine’s military “is the only Western force that has fully adapted to modern drone warfare. Indeed, Ukraine is arguably the world’s leader in drone warfare.”
Observers who recall the Western news media’s hyped propaganda offensive during the prelude to the Persian Gulf War may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu. Prominent news correspondents insisted (while maintaining sober expressions) that Iraq was a borderline military superpower. Of course, in that case the purpose of the propaganda was to generate fear of Iraq as a military threat. In this case, the propaganda is an attempt to convince a skeptical global audience that Ukraine is a surprisingly capable military bulwark against Russia, Iran, and other authoritarian threats. The current disinformation is nearly as flagrant, however, as during the earlier episode.
Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield, slowly conquering additional Ukrainian territory. The bloodied Ukrainian forces appear increasingly beleaguered, and Russia (because of its much larger population and military reserves) is better positioned for a continuing war of attrition. Western officials and their media allies have gone to great lengths to obscure the fundamental reality that Russia is winning the war, albeit in a costlier and more grinding fashion than the Kremlin had assumed. The credibility of arguments that Moscow cannot continue to sustain the drain on its manpower is not enhanced by the continuing refusal of Western analysts to provide even a rough estimate of Ukrainian casualties. Such clumsy attempts at concealment suggest that the actual news about that issue is not good.
If the battlefield situation were not worrisome enough for Ukraine, major domestic political fractures have occurred over the past year. Zelensky’s latest moves also alienated some of his most reliable supporters and apologists in the West. When prominent establishment media outlets such as the Financial Times, the Spectator, and Politico all began to publish stories critical of the Ukrainian leader’s undemocratic moves in late 2025, there was a sense that attitudes even among pro-Ukraine Western elites were shifting. That trend has quietly continued in 2026.
The only worse aspect than French’s inflated accounts of Ukraine’s alleged military capabilities and achievements is his message that Zelensky is a noble champion of liberal democracy. That myth has been thoroughly debunked over the years. The decision by Zelensky and his parliamentary allies in 2025 to curb the independence of anti-corruption agencies proved to be extremely unpopular. Several rounds of anti-government demonstrations erupted in Kyiv and several other cities. Zelensky’s reputation throughout the West of being a noble leader dedicated to democracy and honest government was always unwarranted, but now a good portion of Ukrainian public opinion has developed a far more realistic and cynical view of his governance.
The type of hero worship of Ukraine and its leader that David French displays badly needs a corrective dose of realism. Kiev’s military achievements have been overwhelmingly the result of extensive outside assistance. The United States and its European allies have poured several hundred billion dollars into Zelensky’s coffers—despite ample evidence of the regime’s corruption. The $105 billion “loan” that the European Union approved in April is merely the latest installment. NATO has given the Ukrainian military ever more sophisticated and deadly armaments. Alliance intelligence operatives have even directly assisted Ukraine in conducting attacks on Russian targets. Without the massive assistance that NATO has given Kiev over the years, Ukraine would be a third-rate political, economic, and military power. Kiev and Zelensky are nothing more than the Alliance’s anti-Russia proxy.
David French concludes his ode to Volodymyr Zelensky with the following passage: “No nation can match American might, but for the first time in my adult life, the moral and strategic heart of the defense of liberal democracy doesn’t beat in Washington. It doesn’t beat in London or Paris or Berlin or Ottawa, either. It’s in Kyiv, where a courageous leader and a courageous people have picked up the torch America has dropped.”
One must wonder what alternate universe French calls home. In the real world, Ukraine is a corrupt, authoritarian power that should have no legitimate strategic, economic, or moral relevance to the United States. Kiev is not likely to play a major role, good or bad, in Washington’s latest military folly in Iran. And, no, Ukraine is not going to revitalize a fading NATO or rescue the fraying cause of liberal western democracy.
