KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian drones lost some of their fighting capacity after restrictions were suddenly imposed on the battlefield use of the country’s U.S.-made Starlink communication terminals, officials said Wednesday as the capital endured another night of missile attacks.
At the same time, Ukraine did not receive the usual advance warning from its Western partners of the devastating Russian ballistic missiles that have struck Kyiv for two consecutive nights, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, triggering fears that Ukraine is being starved of vital intelligence, especially from the U.S.
Zelenskyy did not specify which partners he was talking about when referring to the lack of warning. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
The developments frustrated the Ukrainian military and deepened fears that Kyiv’s relationship with Washington is unravelling.
Ukrainian officials fear U.S. support for the war effort is falling away after Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel despite international efforts to sanction Russia for its invasion and isolate Putin.
Trump said Saturday that it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Zelenskyy has not done enough to end his country’s war with Russia and blaming him for high diesel prices in the U.S.
Trump’s efforts to stop the fighting have resulted in no progress.
Starlink is an essential tool for Ukraine
Ukrainian officials are concerned that U.S. support, especially related to the sharing of military intelligence and the use of American tech titan Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications system, may be in jeopardy.
Musk’s SpaceX overnight imposed a speed limit on Ukraine’s Starlink terminals mounted on drones, Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said on social media. The restriction disrupted operations, including making the slower-flying attack drones easier targets for Russian defences.
Starlink is a vital tool for the Ukrainian military, both in offensive and defensive operations. The network is used for long-range drone missions, interceptor air defence systems and front-line logistics, Beskrestnov said.
“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is connected to the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said, without elaborating.
Neither SpaceX nor the White House offered any immediate comment.
Kyiv got no warning about initial ballistic missile attack, official says
Yurii Ihnat, Ukraine’s air force spokesman, said there was no warning of an initial Russian ballistic missile attack on Tuesday night, although Kyiv was warned about three later waves of missiles.
A lawmaker on Ukraine’s parliamentary Defence Committee told The Associated Press that intelligence sharing with international partners has not stopped. The lawmaker spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give statements to the press.
Five people were killed and 36 injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital that lasted from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, Kyiv police said.
Russia keeps bombing Ukraine’s power grid despite Trump’s truce demand
Zelenskyy voiced outrage Wednesday over Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of Trump’s demand for a ceasefire.
“We ask America and EVERYONE in the world who does not turn a blind eye to reality to respond -- and to respond forcefully” to Russia’s ongoing aerial barrages, Zelenskyy said in a social media post Wednesday.
“Russia has squandered the opportunity for de-escalation and has clearly chosen to continue its insane war of annihilation,” he said.
Moscow’s forces pounded Ukraine’s power grid, as well as oil and gas facilities, for the third straight night, Zelenskyy said, after Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to strike energy infrastructure 4 1/2 years after Moscow’s forces invaded.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has agreed to halt Ukraine’s monthslong campaign targeting Russian oil refineries that caused fuel shortages for Russians.
Ukraine’s last widely reported hit on an oil refinery was Friday. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak accused Ukraine of attacking more refineries Wednesday, something local officials and independent media did not report. Ukraine called it a false claim.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that details of the energy ceasefire are still being decided. “The work in that direction is continuing,” he told reporters.
Russia hits three Kyiv power plants in attack, causing outages
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that its forces attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in Kyiv, the wider Kyiv region and the northeastern Kharkiv region overnight, striking a total of six power plants.
Russian forces hit all three of Kyiv’s combined heat and power plants overnight into Wednesday, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said. At least 600,000 people were left without power, Zelenskyy said.
Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv overnight, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine claims it is pushing Russia back on the battlefield
Ukrainian officials say they are pushing back Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, which Russia’s bigger army has been trying to capture for years.
Ukraine has liberated 277 square kilometres (107 square miles) in the operation that started in the summer, Ukraine’s Third Army Corps commander Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi said Wednesday.
It was not possible to independently verify the claim, and Russian officials did not comment.
Zelenskyy visits London for talks on more help in the war
Zelenskyy arrived Wednesday in London for talks with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham as Kyiv and its European supporters race to shore up Ukrainian defences. The Ukrainian leader could go to Brussels to attend a European Union summit later this week.
European leaders fear Moscow’s wider ambitions on the continent and accuse Russia of sabotage as part of a hybrid war on the continent. They seek to keep Washington on Ukraine’s side.
Burnham told the House of Commons that Ukraine is facing “a dark and difficult moment” and that Zelenskyy won’t go away “empty-handed.”
“What I have to do in my role is try and repair bridges so that the support comes back,” he said.
Analysts noted that Trump’s latest moves girded Europe into standing firm behind Kyiv.
“Ahead of a tough winter for Ukraine, Donald Trump’s swing back toward Russia bodes ill,” Rym Momtaz of the Carnegie Europe think tank wrote Tuesday. “But instead of panicking, Kyiv’s European allies are focusing on action.”
Ukraine attacks a Russian data centre with long-range drones
Russian air defences overnight downed 902 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, illegally annexed Crimea and the waters of the Azov Sea, the Russian Defence Ministry said Wednesday.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 493 drones flew toward the capital region. Most were downed far away, and 180 were intercepted as they approached the Russian capital, he said. He did not report any damage or casualties.
Russia’s state-backed Sberbank confirmed an attack on its Saratov data centre, once slated to become Europe’s biggest data centre.
Russian state news agency Tass quoted a member of the bank’s board as saying that Sberbank systems were operating normally.
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By Hanna Arhirova, Samya Kullab and Barry Hatton
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless in London contributed.
