Many questions remain about the man accused of planning to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf club. Ryan Wesley Routh had a criminal record and , and in a detail that鈥檚 drawing some scrutiny, he also traveled to Ukraine after Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion in 2022.
Routh spoke with major media organizations then about wildly ambitious plans to help the war effort. Americans devoted to helping Ukraine now worry that Routh鈥檚 newfound notoriety will damage their cause.
Adrian Bonenberger, an Afghanistan vet who co-founded American Veterans for Ukraine, says he was horrified to hear of a second attempted assassination of Trump but was also dismayed when he heard about Routh鈥檚 background.
鈥淲hen I heard that he had a connection to Ukraine, of course my first thought was, 鈥極h, no, that鈥檚 horrible. People are gonna get the wrong impression,鈥欌�� Bonenberger said.
Routh had no military experience, but already in his late 50s, he traveled to Ukraine and began pushing the idea of recruiting U.S.-trained former soldiers from Afghanistan to fight in Ukraine.
鈥淚鈥檓 talking to a hundred soldiers every day,鈥� he claimed in a 2023 interview with the news site Semafor. Routh admitted in that interview that Ukrainian officials opposed the idea and 鈥減retty much yelled at me every time that I suggested that we bring in Afghans.鈥�
The New York Times also interviewed him about his scheme back then, and Routh discussed possibly bribing officials and obtaining forged passports to get the Afghans to Ukraine. In an article this week, Times reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff said he had as 鈥渋n way over his head.鈥�
Now that he鈥檚 known worldwide for allegedly plotting to assassinate Trump, though, Americans who support Ukraine worry the damage to their cause could be serious.
Idealists, adventurers and madmen
Americans turning up in Ukraine run the gamut, says Bonenberger, who has visited Ukraine several times since the war started to train Ukrainian soldiers with other U.S. combat veterans.
鈥淵ou have idealists, adventurers, drifters, desperados, criminals and madmen. Parsing those people out, seeing who鈥檚 who, it鈥檚 difficult in the moment 鈥� to sort out people who are essentially reasonable people who are doing something unusual and extraordinary from people who are not,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome people who are running from the law, some people who are cynical opportunists just trying to make a name for themselves or make money 鈥� or people who are just mentally unbalanced.鈥�
Supporters of Ukraine worry that the country鈥檚 struggle against Russia has become a partisan election-year issue and that Routh鈥檚 alleged plot might tar their whole movement as anti-Trump. This comes after the former president was asked during this month鈥檚 debate whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war. Trump instead answered, 鈥淚 want the war to stop.鈥�
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for the second time in recent months, posted his sympathy and best wishes to Trump. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told NPR during a press briefing on Tuesday in Ukraine鈥檚 capital, Kyiv: 鈥淯kraine has strongly condemned this criminal act and all forms of political violence. We are glad that this suspect was apprehended so quickly.鈥�
Tykhyi said Routh has no connection to the Ukrainian government and never served in the International Legion, the main force of foreign military volunteers, or in any units in Ukraine鈥檚 armed forces.
鈥淭here are hundreds of millions of people in the United States who support Ukraine, and clearly they are diverse individuals. We urge everyone to refrain, refrain from artificially linking this suspect鈥檚 actions to Ukraine,鈥� he said.
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