Washington may have intentionally withheld military intelligence from Ukraine about a barrage of Russian missile strikes.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that it had successfully carried out a “massive” strike against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, slamming two plants supplying heat and electricity to Kyiv and the surrounding region. The missiles also damaged a residential building in the capitol. At least nine people died in the attacks, reported Al Jazeera.
But Ukrainian officials have since suggested that the strikes could have been prevented—if they received the proper intelligence. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy noted in a statement on X that his government had obtained “no advance warning from our partners” about the attack.
Multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that U.S. officials blamed the communication lapse on the clouds, claiming that the equipment they use to detect Russian missile launches failed to work because of “bad weather.”
Ukrainian officials that spoke on the condition of anonymity said they did not buy Washington’s excuse. They instead believed that the Trump administration was “playing” with the system, according to CBS.
The officials also claimed that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had restricted Starlink access within the region around the same time, upending Ukraine’s primary internet connection.
Days earlier on Friday, Donald Trump brokered an eyebrow-raising deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Moscow, effectively offering the country an economic lifeline to continue the war.
Zelenskiy torched the deal, arguing to American officials that the arrangement exhibited “weakness.” Trump, apparently, did not appreciate the language choice.
A multi-day harassment campaign ensued in which the Trump administration called European capitals and Kyiv, threatening to cut off military intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries unless Ukraine stopped attacking Russian oil refineries.
Speaking with reporters as he departed the White House Tuesday, Donald Trump insisted that the U.S. had not stopped sharing military intelligence with the eastern European country.
“No, we haven’t. We help them, but we’re really helping them get to a final answer. We want the war ended,” Trump said.
When Russia lobbied another round of strikes against Ukraine around 3 a.m. Wednesday, the American detection system was spontaneously working again.