Ukraine Accuses US of Aiding Russia as Missiles Strike Kyiv

Kyiv: Ukraine on Wednesday accused the United States of helping Russia by failing to warn it of incoming missile strikes and hobbling its military response through changes to the Starlink system it uses on the battlefield.

President Volodymyr Zelensky framed the lack of notice about a wave of powerful strikes on Tuesday night and early Wednesday as "completely unjust", and accused Russia of wilfully flouting a supposed "energy ceasefire" announced by US President Donald Trump.

A senior official in Kyiv confirmed that the United States had in recent days threatened to stop providing intelligence about Russian missile launches that Ukraine uses to thwart attacks. Trump denied doing so on Tuesday.

But they and defence officials also suggested Washington was behind slower speeds reported on some Starlink internet terminals which help Ukraine's military hit Russian-occupied territory and operate interceptor drones.

"It's obvious they (the United States) are helping Russia for some reason," the senior official told AFP.

Zelensky adviser Sergiy Beskrestnov said the attacks and Starlink restrictions were more than a coincidence as the network was "the most effective solution" for protecting Ukraine against jet-powered Russian attack drones, which can fly at up to 600 kilometres (370 miles) per hour.

"Through their actions, our partners are depriving us of one of the few chances we have to defend the country against jet-powered Shahed drones," he wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian defence sources said SpaceX, owned by tech titan Elon Musk, "unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals... without prior warning", hitting connectivity for its drones.

There was no immediate comment from either Musk or SpaceX.

But last weekend he backed Trump, who has enraged Western allies by announcing a diesel-supply deal with heavily sanctioned Moscow and blindsided both sides in the nearly five-year conflict by announcing an "energy ceasefire".

Trump also angrily hit out at Zelensky -- and even suggested he should be replaced as president -- unless he stopped Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was watching for any sign that Washington's backing for Ukraine may have shifted.

"We are carefully noting all this. It is too early to draw any systemic conclusions," he told reporters.

President Vladimir Putin's special envoy on economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, meanwhile said the first contracts on providing diesel to the United States would be signed in the coming days.

"We are in close, hourly contact with the American side, and everything is moving very quickly," he added.

Trump, facing crunch mid-term elections next month, has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for the squeeze on fuel supplies and increase in prices at the pump.

But most experts say the real reason is the joint US and Israeli attacks on Iran since late February, which have seen Tehran block off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.

Ballistic missiles have now struck the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, for two nights running, before air raid sirens could sound in time to warn people to take cover in basements, bomb shelters or metro stations.

"Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States," said Zelensky, accusing Moscow of squandering a chance to ease hostilities.

"Russia does not consider the American President's statements strong."

The lack of warning has been reported only rarely during the conflict and Ukrainian officials have previously suggested the Russian military's use of hard-to-detect missiles or potential technical issues could be to blame.

Six people were killed and dozens more wounded in Kyiv on Wednesday, the authorities said, while significant damage to energy facilities and equipment knocked out power to swathes of the city.

Power plants came under ballistic-missile attack in the eastern Kharkiv region, while Zhytomyr in the northwest, Sumy in the northeast and Chernigiv in the north were also hit.

Russia has previously targeted Ukraine's power stations and heating infrastructure, crippling supplies before winter, when temperatures can plummet to as low as -20C.

Two people were killed in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and a further person in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, the authorities said.

Six others were killed in a drone strike at a wholesaler in the western city of Lutsk, the interior ministry said.