Zelenskyy says Russia hit five power plants, 600,000 without power
The overnight restriction hit Starlink terminals operating above 100 miles per hour, The Guardian reported. Serhiy Beskrestnov, a military technology adviser to Zelenskyy who also runs a popular military blog, said those terminals “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.”
Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, which produces Starlink, said the decision to curtail Starlink was not his. Musk noted that the communications system is not directly licensed to clients who are using weapons, and that the Ukrainian military was linked to a related network called Starshield, which is operated by the US government. “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk wrote. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” referring to Trump.
The restriction affected two of Ukraine’s most important battlefield uses of the network, The Guardian reported. The medium-range drones Ukraine flies into Russian-occupied territory rely on Starlink connectivity for targeting. Starlink-based systems also underpin Ukraine’s most effective interception system for the Shahed jet-powered attack drones now deployed in large numbers against Ukrainian cities. According to Beskrestnov, interception rates had already fallen from above 90 percent to around 60 percent after Russia upgraded its engines to jet power in early summer. “With their actions our partners are depriving us of one of the few chances we have to defend ourselves,” Beskrestnov added in a follow-up post. Beskrestnov said the cutoff would have no impact on Ukraine’s deep-strike bombing of Russian oil refineries because Kyiv is barred from using Starlink to hit targets inside Russia.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Zelenskyy said he believed the cutoff occurred around 1 a.m. overnight. “Because it was 1am at night, Starlink was blocked by SpaceX and the United States,” Zelenskyy told Morgan. “This decision will bring a lot of human losses. Of course, people will die.” Asked in a separate TV interview whether he felt betrayed by Trump, Zelenskyy replied: “Really, yes … but it’s a little bit more complicated than just my emotions or my feelings. It’s a pity that we are losing, we are losing a strong partner.” The Guardian reported that Zelenskyy accused Trump of picking the other side after more than four years of war, risking a breakdown in relations already strained by the US agreeing to buy diesel from Moscow.
Trump has denied that his administration cut intelligence sharing on Tuesday, The Guardian reported. In an interview with US broadcaster NPR aired on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian military advisers had nonetheless received threats from the United States that intelligence sharing could be limited in the future. Trump has demanded that Ukraine halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, which he has blamed for the cost of diesel, although most analysts say the closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the US–Israel attack on Iran has had a far larger effect on global energy prices.
The Starlink disruption came as Zelenskyy said Russia launched a massive strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure late Tuesday. The strikes, which Zelenskyy said involved 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones, hit five big power plants, key substations and other infrastructure that sustains major cities including Kyiv and Kharkiv, he added. At least 600,000 people were without power, Zelenskyy said, and outages could become more widespread.
Trump last week announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine that has not been confirmed. Zelenskyy said he had not heard of the arrangement until Trump posted it on Truth Social. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday: “The energy truce proposed by Trump was not specified in detail, so it cannot be claimed that Russia is failing to observe it.”
In London, Burnham told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions that he wanted to be “careful” about potential criticism of Trump that might risk exacerbating tensions, saying he was “laying the ground” for a reconciliation: “I will listen to President Zelenskyy carefully, but he won’t be going away from Britain today empty-handed.” Burnham also told MPs he had promised the Ukrainian president “would not leave empty handed” and that he had tasked officials with drawing up further sanctions and options for speeding up military aid. Burnham greeted Zelenskyy with a hug on Downing Street on Wednesday before the pair walked to the door of No. 10 and posed for photographs, flanked by Irish Guards in full ceremonial uniform. As the pair met at Number 10, Burnham pledged that Britain’s support for Ukraine would remain constant. “You have seen the solidarity and the support you have got from everybody here in Britain,” he told Zelenskyy. “We are behind you and that will not change.”
Burnham said he was prepared to discuss the ceasefire proposed by Trump on energy infrastructure but acknowledged that Moscow had not abided by it. “Sadly, what we have seen from Russia is further attacks on critical national infrastructure in Ukraine,” he said. Britain will accelerate the supply of British lightweight multi-role missiles that Ukraine uses to counter Russian drone strikes, Burnham said, with officials looking for “all possible avenues” of further support.
Zelenskyy earlier met King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday and said he hoped to raise Starlink access and intelligence sharing with the British prime minister.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv came under severe strain in the spring of 2025 during Zelenskyy’s Oval Office visit, where Trump told the Ukrainian president: “You don’t have the cards” to win the war. The Guardian reported that the dispute triggered a brief pause in intelligence sharing and a desperate scramble by European allies to calm the row.