U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he could not confirm reports that Ukraine received no advance warning before Russia's ballistic missile attack on Kyiv on Oct. 19, citing a lack of information, as he spoke to reporters during a visit to Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alex Raufoglu asked Rubio during a press briefing to comment on Kyiv's statements that it had received no advance warning of Russian missile launches.
"I don't know. I mean, where did it happen last night? I don't know exactly," Rubio told reporters on Oct. 19.
In the Oct. 19 attack on Kyiv, at least one person was killed, and eight others were injured as Russian missiles struck Kyiv in multiple waves overnight. Explosions were reported shortly before 11 p.m., followed by further attacks around 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. local time.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X on Oct. 19 that Ukraine had not received early warning from its partner countries, including the U.S., ahead of the attack. He added that Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles, with Kyiv and the surrounding region as the primary targets.
Later in the day, Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on national television that Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners before the first wave of ballistic missile attacks at around 11 p.m., but that information about the second wave, at around 3 a.m., was provided.
He added that a similar situation had occurred during previous attacks, including the one overnight on Oct. 14.
Alerts did sound before the overnight strikes overnight on Oct. 19, though the warnings were unusually short. The first explosions were simultaneous with the blaring of air raid sirens, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground.
The U.S. provides Ukraine with intelligence to help its military detect and track Russian missile launches and other aerial threats.
Rubio said on Oct. 19 that "a few nights ago" there was a software problem involving the Ukrainian early warning system.
"I know that EUCOM (U.S. European Command) had been involved in looking at, and that's the report they gave us back. I can't comment on what happened last night," he said.
A senior Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that the first overnight wave followed a similar pattern.
"The 'warning' about a ballistic threat came through only after the strike had already happened," the official said. "They're up to something again."
It can be common for Russia's high-speed ballistic missiles to hit with very little advance warning.
The attack came just hours after Zelensky said the U.S. had resumed intelligence sharing with Ukraine about Russian missile launches.
The president's announcement came as a relief after Kyiv endured "massive explosions" on Oct. 12, when five Russian S-400 missiles struck the Ukrainian capital. Air raid sirens and mobile alerts sounded only after the attack.
The Oct. 12 attack came after the U.S. threatened to withhold intelligence from Ukraine unless Kyiv stopped attacking Russian refineries, sources told the Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian officials have previously explained that satellite surveillance of launch sites can be vulnerable to transmission delays. Bad weather may also cause interference with the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites, a surveillance network U.S. forces use to monitor Russian launch sites.
But the senior official who spoke to the Kyiv Independent said this explanation was unlikely.
"This has never happened before ... but now we're seeing 'bad weather' three times in a row," the official said.
"When nothing comes through on any channel... well, we get it."