The strike on Flex Ltd.’s Mukachevo facility came just hours after Moscow rejected President Trump’s latest peace overtures, sending a clear message about Russia’s willingness to target American business interests during diplomatic negotiations.

Russia targets American business

Just hours before the missiles hit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had dismissed European peacekeeping proposals as “foreign intervention.”

Moscow’s choice to strike a big US-owned facility during active peace discussions sends an unmistakable message: Russia believes it can attack American assets without derailing Trump’s negotiation efforts.

Company safety protocols brought employees to safety when air raid sirens sounded, preventing what could have been a catastrophic loss of life. Twelve people were injured, though, with two in serious condition.

The strike hit a facility producing electronics components for global brands including Nike, Google, Microsoft, and Lenovo, disrupting supply chains that extend far beyond Ukraine’s borders.

“This was not only an attack on Ukraine. It was an attack on American business,” said Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, who traveled to the strike site Thursday morning.

Calculated message to Washington

With this attack, itself part of a massive nighttime air raid against Ukrainian cities, Moscow appears to be testing Trump’s resolve while negotiations were still forming.

“Russia is not seeking peace; it is attacking American interests and values,” Hunder wrote on Facebook, calling on Trump to “stand with American business in Ukraine.”

Ukrainian business leaders were even more direct. “I hope Trump, when he wakes up, will already be aware of this morning’s greeting from his Alaskan buddy,” wrote Oleksandr Sokolovskyi, head of the Ukrainian Association of Light Industry Enterprises, referencing the American President’s meeting with Putin in Alaska less than a week before the devastating strike.

“Russia is destroying and humiliating US businesses in Ukraine, targeting companies that invest and trade on the US stock markets,” Hunder noted, framing the strike as broader economic warfare against American interests.

Putin tests Trump’s resolve

The strike puts Trump’s negotiation approach under pressure. The president has suggested he could end the war through direct talks with Putin. Moscow’s willingness to hit US-owned assets during peace discussions reveals Russia’s actual negotiating position.

This attack represents a challenge to American credibility: will Washington tolerate attacks on US business while pursuing diplomatic solutions?

The attack also demonstrates why stronger air defense systems matter, as better missile shields don’t just save Ukrainian lives—they also protect American investments and send a message that targeting Western assets carries real costs.

Key facts about the attack:

• Russia targeted the world’s third-largest contract electronics manufacturer’s Ukrainian plant
• The facility employs over 2,600 people and serves major US brands
• Flex produces components for Nike, Google, Microsoft, and Lenovo
• Attack occurred during active Trump-led peace negotiations
• Russia used Kalibr missiles launched from strategic bombers
• 12 people were injured, two seriously, but adherence to safety protocols prevented deaths

BlackRock, a U.S. investment firm, suspended work on a multibillion-dollar Ukraine recovery fund following U.S. President Donald Trump's election victory, prompting France to work on a replacement, Bloomberg reported on July 5.

The plan nearly secured the initial support of institutions backed by the governments of Germany, Italy, and Poland, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Kyiv has sought to secure investment in Ukraine's reconstruction as Russia's war continues to destroy infrastructure across the country.

BlackRock halted its search for institutional investors in January, causing the planned funding that sought to secure $500 million from governments, development grants, and investment banks, and another $2 billion from private investors, to fall through.

The investment firm halted talks with institutional investors in January due to a lack of interest amid perceived uncertainty in Ukraine.

The fund was set to be unveiled by BlackRock at the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference on July 10-11 in Rome, Bloomberg reported.

A spokesperson for BlackRock said the investment firm completed advisory work for the recovery fund pro bono in 2024 and no longer has "any active mandate."

France is working on a proposal to replace the recovery fund led by BlackRock, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, adding that it remains uncertain how effective the plan will be without Washington's backing.

President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are expected to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference next week.

Despite a partial rebound from a 30% economic slump in 2022, foreign investment in Ukraine remains underwhelming.

As US aid to Ukraine dries up, new platform connects Americans investors with Ukrainian startups

Ukraine’s startup ecosystem has tripled in five years, even during Russia’s full-scale invasion, to become the second most valuable in Central and Eastern Europe at $28 billion.

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell