Russia strikes Ukraine energy sites without US advance warning for second night
SpaceX restricted Starlink satellite internet access for Ukrainian combat troops on Tuesday evening, according to Serhiy Beskrestnov, a military technology adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a popular military blogger. The restriction affected terminals travelling at more than 100 mph and using a version of Starlink for the military and other national security agencies, which suddenly lost connectivity in what appeared to be a targeted outage meant to disrupt military operations.
“Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions and this led to the failure of a number of missions,” Beskrestnov said. “It’s clear that this action cannot be a coincidence and is connected to the current political situation.”
Serhii Sternenko, a political activist with close ties to the Ukrainian military who first reported the outage, later said speeds had fallen even lower. “It is likely that the company ‘SpaceX’ resorted to such measures at the request of the Trump administration,” Sternenko said, adding that ordinary satellite communication terminals were operational.
SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, distributes and manages the Starlink terminals that have become a key component of Ukraine’s military operations. Musk, an ally of Trump, had previously cut off Starlink service to Ukrainian soldiers during an offensive that took a small amount of Russian territory.
The Starlink cutoff came as the United States withheld advance warning of Russian ballistic missile strikes for a second consecutive night. For years the US has provided Ukraine with intelligence when strikes were about to take place. Zelenskyy had suggested, though not said, that the US was intentionally withholding intelligence about impending Russian strikes.
Trump has demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries, blaming the strikes for the high cost of diesel. Most analysts have said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a far larger effect on global energy prices.
Russia carried out a massive strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure late Tuesday evening, Zelenskyy said, launching 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones at Kyiv and Kharkiv. The strikes hit several power plants and key substations that carry electricity to the capital, including a major power plant.
“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia does not consider the American president’s statements strong.”
At least 600,000 people were without power on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said, warning that outages could become more widespread.