A massive oops moment for Ukraine: Trump’s pick for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has sent shockwaves across Kyiv. It’s because Kyiv’s propaganda machinery spent previous years labeling Tulsi Gabbard as a Russian asset in US. And now, the same lady will lead operations at the CIA and the NSA.
So, now Ukraine is officially in damage control mode.
For context: Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) is quietly removing its posts and bulletins accusing Gabbard of peddling pro-Russian fake news.
CCD is a state agency which aims to combat what it deems as misinformation, especially content critical of Ukraine.
Now, we know that Gabbard is an anti-war American veteran. She has on various occasions spoken out against U.S. involvement in conflicts abroad. And yes, she has also raised concerns about the U.S. aiding Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
The tension between Gabbard and Ukraine reached a peak last year when Ukraine’s CCD accused her of operating on “Kremlin money” to spread anti-Ukraine narratives. This allegation, which suggested she was essentially a Russian mouthpiece, stood alongside other inflammatory claims, such as her alleged efforts to undermine Ukriane leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Yet with her nomination as DNI by the incoming Trump administration, Ukraine’s CCD has now taken down several critical posts, possibly as a damage-control measure.
The removals includes a post from April two years back that directly accused Gabbard of promoting Russian viewpoints to foreign audiences and a June bulletin that claimed she had spread disinformation about Zelensky. The initial allegation portrayed Gabbard as a public figure eager to help Russia’s objectives in Ukraine.
In fact, one of the CCD’s posts accusing Gabbard of taking Russian money is still up on X. You can see here:
By erasing these posts, Ukraine is laying bare its pain, its tensions about diplomatic implications of maintaining a confrontational stance against someone who could soon hold sway over key American intelligence operations.
But make no mistake, Gabbard is not the only Western official that Kyiv has trained its guns on.
Notable figures like Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk have also faced similar allegations, revealing a pattern in Ukraine’s approach to silencing dissenting voices from high-profile voices in the West.
Gabbard is of the view that the Ukraine war might have been avoidable had the U.S. acknowledged Russia’s concerns over NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe. While her critics have argued that such statements display a naive approach to foreign policy, Gabbard counters that diplomacy should always come before armed conflict, an idea that resonates with many Americans skeptical of prolonged U.S. involvement in overseas wars. In fact, her stance has gained increasing support as more Americans question the prolonged conflict in Ukraine and its risks of escalation.
Gabbard’s past comments, including when she blasted Zelensky for allegedly taking “absolute control of Ukraine media” and silencing opposition, stirred controversy in both Ukraine and the U.S. At the time, her statements seemed to validate Ukraine’s claims that she was undermining their struggle against Russia. Yet with her nomination to the DNI role, Ukraine may now find itself in a fix.
Now, Kyiv wants a diplomatic reset. It’s the best it can hope for now. Earlier, it was Zelensky who idiotically called Trump’s running mate JD Vance too radical. And now, it’s the CCD whose actions are going to spell a doom for the war-torn nation.
