KYIV - Ukraine received no prior warning from its Western partners about a Russian ballistic missile attack on its capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct 13, as Kyiv comes under intense US pressure to halt attacks on Russian refineries.
Russia hit no Ukrainian energy targets overnight for the first time since US President Donald Trump’s surprise Oct 11 announcement of an “energy ceasefire”, but hammered transport and logistics with ballistic missiles and drones.
Reuters and other media have reported that US officials have threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine unless it stops attacking Russian refineries. Kyiv relies heavily on US intelligence for early warnings of missile strikes, experts and officials say.
Zelensky said Ukraine had not targeted Russian refineries since Trump’s announcement. However, he said Kyiv had not received the usual warning from allies of ballistic missile launches before a “particularly vile” attack on Kyiv overnight, in which five missiles hit civilian infrastructure.
Air raid alerts sound in Kyiv only after blasts are heard
“Intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches helps save lives,” Zelensky said on X, “and this is one of the most critical issues.”
Air alerts sounded in Kyiv on the night of Oct 12 only after several explosions had already ripped through the city.
Zelensky stopped short of linking the lack of warning to any US threats.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha tried to calm anxiety by saying Ukraine was still receiving US military intelligence. Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum, he said the delay had been due to the specifics of the weaponry that Russia had used.
As Ukraine fights a larger, richer and better-equipped enemy, Kyiv sees the strikes on Russian oil refineries as one of its few instruments to reduce Moscow’s ability to fight.
Yet Trump has repeatedly blamed Ukrainian attacks - which prompted Moscow to suspend diesel exports - for a sharp rise in US fuel prices this year, a headache for his Republican party ahead of Congressional midterm elections in three weeks.
Most analysts, however, say Trump’s war in Iran has had a far greater impact on the price rise.
Russia struck six Ukrainian energy sites on Oct 12 but no strikes on energy targets were reported overnight and on Oct 13. It was unclear whether Russia had deliberately avoided targeting energy infrastructure.
Emergency employees work at the site of a residential area damaged during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A Kremlin spokesman, asked about the energy ceasefire, would only say that contacts were ongoing, but declined to provide any further details.
Ukraine says it now has cards to play
Four people were killed by Russian strikes in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and dozens were injured across the country, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian air force said it had not received surveillance warnings before Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv late on Oct 12, adding that it was investigating the matter.
Fabian Hoffmann, missile expert at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, said Ukraine’s European allies had “very limited” ability to replace US early-warning intelligence about Russian missile strikes:
“Ukraine relies on the so-called Space-Based Infrared System which the US deploys - and the US system is really second to none and only the United States can provide that.”
Sybiha said the US request to halt attacks on Russian refineries showed how Ukraine’s position had strengthened, alluding to Trump’s comment to Zelensky in a tense Oval Office meeting in 2025 that “you don’t have the cards”.
“In less than two years, we have gone from ‘having no cards’ to ‘not playing your cards’. That is an achievement,” Sybiha said.
Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s position, saying that Kyiv was ready for reciprocal steps to de-escalate, calling on partners to pressure Russia. REUTERS