Earlier this month, a Russian missile slammed into a housing complex in Pryluky, a Ukrainian city of no strategic value, far from the eastern front lines. Thirty apartments were destroyed. Twenty-two people were killed.
Page F120From§Eachthe afternoon edition — 17 October 2026
THE TALLY
Trump waives Lindsey Graham's sanctions law; his sister broke with him before 320 drones hit the grid.
As it ran on the front
The ledger opens on September 19th, when the president signed into law a bill carrying a dead colleague's name — the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, authorizing tariffs of up to 100 percent on Russian energy. The senator had championed the measure before his death in July; the signature was meant as his monument.
By October 10th the monument was already being tested. A separate arrangement let Russian diesel back onto world markets. Zelensky objected on air that day, and Trump told reporters Zelensky could have "settled this war many times" and should "get a new leader." The next day, a Sunday, three things landed together: a bipartisan group of senators pushed back on the oil deal in a joint statement; Thom Tillis, a Republican, said the deal was "tarnishing Lindsey Graham's efforts"; and Zelensky called the same diesel arrangement a "birthday gift" letting Putin "kill us, kill our children."…
…(cont) Then came the law itself. On Friday, the day before the Graham Act's new sanctions were due to take effect, the White House waived nearly all of them — tariffs and penalties together, exempting the sector the bill had been written to restrain.
Saturday supplied the reviews. Representative Thomas Massie, no reliable ally of this president, offered what the wires call "rare praise." Senator Darline Graham, who now holds the seat her brother occupied until his death, filed a gentler but pointed disagreement with the decision — a break with the president over the law that carries her own family's name. Putin will get all year. The New York Post, no friend of Schumer's party, traced the easing to a missile that had already hit a housing complex in Pryluky earlier this month — thirty apartments destroyed, twenty-two people dead, five of them children.
That same Saturday, the administration floated letting Russia sell more gas into Europe as part of a peace framework. Europe's own reaction, per the Times, is wary; critics say the arrangement would strengthen the country it is meant to restrain.
Within hours, Russia answered in hardware: 320 drones and missiles at the power grid the announced ceasefire was supposed to protect. The gap a reversal this size opens already carries a number — seventy billion euros, Brussels's own estimate, filed before the drones finished landing.
“They slap a dead senator's name on a sanctions law, then gut it the day before it bites — that's not a tribute, that's a wake with a loophole. The guy's own sister, stuck holding his old Senate seat, is the one who has to say wait a minute, while Thomas Massie — no friend of Ukraine funding — says thank you. Either way the stuff that was supposed to cost Moscow money stays on the market, and the seventy-billion-euro gap it leaves gets covered by whoever pays European gas bills this winter — which, eventually, is you.”
“Look, the sanctions were never going to work the way Graham wrote them — tariffs on energy just push prices higher here at home, and nobody elected Congress to run foreign policy from a spreadsheet. The president's trying to end a war, and if that means letting some gas flow so Europe doesn't freeze and Putin has a reason to sit down, that's called diplomacy, not — okay, Massie agreeing with us is maybe not the strongest headline we wanted this week.”
Earlier in this story
- Russia hits the power grid with over 320 drones hours after sanctions meant to protect it are waived. By The Lodgers · the morning edition, 17 October 2026
- Trump signs Russia sanctions law named for Lindsey Graham, then waives it the day before it takes effect. By The Lodgers · the morning edition, 17 October 2026
- Trump calls Ukraine's strikes on the Russian refineries he just legalized buying from "a disgrace." By The Lodgers · the evening edition, 16 October 2026
- Trump's Russian diesel deal paused the war five days, longer than any Senate hopeful will defend it. By Chip · the morning edition, 15 October 2026
- Deal meant to cut pump prices promotes refineries from liabilities to goldmines By Ruth · the morning edition, 14 October 2026
- Trump's Russian diesel deal ruled too small, too late for the midterms, by his own party's newspaper. By Ruth · the evening edition, 13 October 2026
The receipts
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Saturday issued rare approval of President Donald Trump, commending the White House for lifting sanctions on Russia. The White House waived the sanctions on Friday, after the late Sen.
The Trump administration is ignoring the will of Congress and waiving new Russia sanctions amid fears that high energy prices will cost Republicans in next month’s elections.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused President Trump on Saturday of giving Russian President Vladimir Putin “the best birthday gift” after he waived new sanctions on Russia days before they were set to take effect. “By giving the Russian economy life support Trump’s deal with the devil keeps getting dirtier,”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said the U.S.-Russia diesel deal is a "birthday gift" to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to "kill us, kill our children." When asked by ABC's Jonathan Karl on "This Week" about his remark that the deal helps Putin as a "gift," Zelensky explained that it "gives Putin money and...
Trump promised 53 separate times he would settle the Ukraine war, including "within 24 hours" - CNN count CNN fact check, 25 April 2025 (all 53 instances)
U.S. Floats Lifeline to Russia: Allowing More Gas Sales to EuropeThe Trump administration is pitching the idea as part of a peace deal with Ukraine, but Europe is wary and critics say Russia would be strengthened.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) slammed President Trump’s deal with Russia for diesel Sunday amid the energy struggles the U.S. is experiencing.
Senator Darline Graham, appointed to fill the Senate seat of her late brother, Lindsey, gently disagreed with the president’s decision to exempt Russia from the sanctions legislation.
· Trump signs Russia sanctions bill named after Lindsey Graham from the morgue, 19 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.