The U.S. may have intentionally withheld early warnings this week of Russian strikes on Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine “received no advance warning from our partners” when Russia launched a ballistic missile barrage at Kyiv and other locations early Tuesday.
The sources said American officials told their Ukrainian counterparts the system used to detect Russian missile launches had failed due to “bad weather.” Ukrainian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the topic, told CBS News they did not believe the excuse, and they accused the U.S. instead of “playing” with the system.
When Russia launched another wave of ballistic missiles around 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the sources said the U.S. early warning system appeared to be working again.
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The sources said the U.S. had failed to provide intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches during one previous instance earlier this year, citing the need to focus more resources on the Middle East.
Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Russia launched more than 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions during the overnight attack, primarily targeting energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv, killing six people and leaving some 600,000 without power.
The strikes started soon after President Trump said in a social media post that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire.”
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Earlier this week, the Trump administration threatened to stop sharing intelligence and to halt the purchase of U.S.-made weapons by European allies for Ukraine via the PURL procurement system if Ukraine did not stop deep strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, a European and a Ukrainian official told CBS News.
Ukraine relies on U.S. intelligence for both offensive and defensive military capabilities, including data from satellites and aircraft sensors used to identify launches of Russian aircraft and missiles. Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News the U.S. had not ceased intelligence sharing with Ukraine overall — calling the lack of a warning about this week’s attacks a specific incident.
Ukrainian officials and soldiers also told CBS News that Ukraine’s military had started experiencing difficulties Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with Starlink, the satellite technology owned by SpaceX’s Elon Musk.
In an interview with CBS News earlier this year, Ukraine’s former minister of defense Mykhailo Fedorov said Starlink was one of Ukraine’s most important technologies, as it allows Ukrainian soldiers to communicate and carry out strikes in environments saturated by electronic warfare.
“On the night of 14 October, without warning the Defence Forces, SpaceX unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals (‘military package’) while in motion. This complicates UAV missions, particularly interceptors and middle-strike drones, and reduces capabilities for frontline logistics, reconnaissance and signal relay,” sources in Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense told CBS News. “At present, the Ministry of Defence is in contact with the United States, SpaceX and NATO partners, is collecting data from all units, and backup communication channels are being tested and put into use.”
The Starlink restrictions were first reported by the Kyiv Independent and the Financial Times. CBS News has reached out to SpaceX, the White House, and the Pentagon for comment.
On Wednesday, as President Zelenskyy arrived in the United Kingdom to meet with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and other officials, he called for a U.S. response to the recent Russian strikes.
“The strike was absolutely deliberate and indicative in its scale — such a demonstrative disrespect from Russia toward America has never happened before. Russia does not consider the statements of the President of America to be strong,” he wrote on X. “We ask America and EVERYONE in the world who does not close their eyes to reality to respond, and to respond harshly.”