From the capital, Kyiv...
...to the city of Lutsk in the northwest...
...to clear across the country in Zaporizhzhia... Ukraine has come under more Russian strikes...some deadly. And Ukraine says the United States may be part of the reason why.
Kyiv says Washington has threatened to stop warning of incoming Russian strikes. It also reports changes to the Starlink system that Ukraine’s military relies on—cutting off access for drone systems that exceed a certain flight speed.
MARC DE VORE, CHATHAM HOUSE:
"If this report is true, and it appears as though SpaceX is definitely preventing Starlink terminals that are in motion. Initially, the reports were 160km an hour. Now there are reports that terminals in motion, even at 60km an hour, are no longer receiving their feeds. Then this does significantly disrupt Ukraine's ability to defend itself."
Starlink boss Elon Musk says the service is for civilian and defensive uses only—and any slowdown of services by its military-grade sister service Starshield is something for the US government to decide.
And Ukrainian officials say they see a big motive for the US to make such a decision right now. With midterm elections on the horizon, US President Donald Trump is scrambling to ease soaring energy prices at home. He’s made a diesel deal with Russia and wants Ukraine to stop hitting Russian energy targets. Security analysts see a potential message from Washington to Kyiv.
JOSH WALLIN, CNAS:
"If it was because of political pressure, then that's really indicating to the Ukrainians that their ability to basically fight with these systems is dependent on support from the United States, even after they actually acquire the systems themselves."
On meeting with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had this to say about the Starlink slowdown.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT:
"We had massive attacks today. And it's a pity that we had, also, some difficulties [that] I want to discuss with Andy about Starlink and about intelligence. I mean a lot of different surprises on which you can't count when you have real partnership and we count on partnership with the United States. We just want to be very honest, very clear and be strong partners."
Kyiv says it’s talking with the US, Musk’s SpaceX and NATO to understand its limitations to Starlink access.
Meanwhile, Moscow is watching—with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying Russia was taking note—and watching for a sign Washington’s support for Ukraine may be shifting.
Devin Tsai and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.
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