Trump administration stays silent as Russia strikes US companies in Ukraine

While US President Donald Trump and his administration intensified pressure on Ukraine to stop targeting Russian oil refineries - citing the harm that could be caused to American consumers - they remained silent regarding the recent Russian strikes that targeted American companies in Ukraine. Russia has escalated its attacks on facilities belonging to American companies - and on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine in general - over the past few months.

According to Andy Hunder, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Russian missiles and drones have damaged facilities belonging to some of the most prominent American brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonald's, and Oreo. Although Russia has tried in the past to obstruct successful American businesses, Hander told the Ofoq News network, saying: “We have never seen anything like this before during the past months...

These are direct strikes using drones and missiles, and these targeting operations continue. "It sends a message that they are targeting American business interests, and yet we see no reaction from the White House."

He added: "This matter must stop, because the parties being attacked and targeted are American interests, money, and investors." When a Russian drone hit a Coca-Cola plant outside Kiev in early September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack represented a “clear message” to the United States.

Zelensky said in his evening video speech on September 3: “Today, the Russians targeted a Coca-Cola factory with a drone. Coca-Cola has become their enemy to the point that they are burning it with their Shahed planes,” referring to “Iranian-made” drones.

Zelensky added: "This is a clear signal from Russia to America. It is impossible for the Russians not to realize that this is an American project."

Later that month, Zelensky said in a post on the X platform that the Russians used an “attack drone” to destroy a McDonald’s warehouse. McDonald's Ukraine confirmed in a statement that "a warehouse operated by one of our partner logistics companies in the Kiev region was damaged by a drone attack on September 25."

The Russians are constantly expanding the scope of their escalation; American and other companies, data centers, Internet service providers... are all targets for Russia, as normal daily life is itself a target.”