The United States’s relationship with Ukraine came under extraordinary strain during the past week, as US President Donald Trump lifted some oil sanctions against Russia and was feared to have restricted Ukraine’s access to US intelligence and satellite services, hobbling its defences. That effectively reversed the Lindsey Graham Act, which Trump had signed into law days earlier. The law gave him the ability to punish countries buying Russian oil with secondary sanctions.
Ukraine’s partners did not share intelligence that five ballistic missiles were headed towards Kyiv on October 13, Zelenskyy said, without naming the US. Those missiles struck Kyiv’s Thermal Power Plant number 4, one of the capital’s biggest, resulting in power outages. Russia then pounded Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure on October 14, when Ukraine reported it had restricted use of SpaceX’s satellite navigation services, which it uses to defend itself.
Over a 24-hour period, Russia launched 850 drones and 39 missiles, striking 30 energy targets across 19 regions of Ukraine, despite the fact that Trump had declared an energy ceasefire on October 11. Starshield, the military element of the Starlink satellite network owned by SpaceX, capped Ukraine’s use of its navigation services at 160 km/h (100mph). This meant that Ukraine lost sight of its interceptors above that speed, making it difficult or impossible to stop Russian jet-powered Geran-4 drones, which fly at speeds exceeding 500 km/h (310mph).
Six in 10 Russian drones are now jet-powered, Zelenskyy said. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” wrote SpaceX owner Elon Musk. Starshield services had begun to return to normal on October 15, sources at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said.
Ukraine is so heavily targeted by Russian aerial strikes that an outage in its ability to navigate interceptors for a prolonged period could be ruinous. During September, its air force intercepted more than 4,700 drones and missiles of various kinds. Starshield is equally important for Ukraine’s ability to hobble Russian offensive operations.
Ukraine has wrought havoc with Russian supply lines for months, striking fuel trucks, bridges, ammunition warehouses and air defences. During September alone, Ukraine’s military said it had struck 40 command posts and 50 logistics facilities. The Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine’s data showed that strikes fell from a daily average of 2,300 to 1,678 on October 14 and 1,053 on October 15.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
