Sources: US may have withheld warning about Russian attacks
The US may have deliberately withheld information regarding Russian attacks on Ukraine this week.
Ukraine accuses the US of abetting Russia in the war of aggression, in which an increasing number of civilian targets are being attacked.
According to sources cited by several media outlets, US officials told their Ukrainian counterparts that warnings via the American communications network Starlink had failed due to "bad weather."
Ukrainian officials, for their part, said they did not believe the excuse and accused the US of "playing games with the system."
Unfair conduct
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went so far as to call the lack of information regarding the Russian attacks on the night leading into Tuesday "completely unfair."
He states that the country received no early intelligence when Russia attacked Kyiv and several other cities early Tuesday morning.
"Unfortunately, there was no warning from our partners," Zelenskyy wrote on X later that afternoon.
Ukraine's president commented further on the situation while visiting the British capital, London:
He says he "counts on" the US partnership despite "certain difficulties."
No change in guidelines
However, US representatives maintain that they have not changed their guidelines regarding intelligence sharing with Ukraine. This information comes from an official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, AFP reports that Ukrainian drones have lost some of their combat capability following the imposition of restrictions on the country's Starlink communication terminals.
Starlink is owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk. According to Ukrainian defense sources, the space company SpaceX—controlled by Musk—reportedly "unilaterally blocked operations on the terminals (within the Starlink system) without warning."
Neither Musk nor representatives for SpaceX have commented on the reports.
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