Ukraine had no warning from its Western partners before Russia fired five ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on October 13, Kyiv Post reported.
"Unfortunately, there was no warning from our partners about this strike. Intelligence on the launch of Russian ballistic missiles helps save lives," Zelenskiy said in a Telegram post. He also accused Moscow of ignoring the US call for an energy ceasefire, saying 19 regions had come under attack in two days, and said Russian strikes had killed four people and wounded 41 in Kharkiv.
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said Ukraine's air defences could not respond to the launches in time because the necessary data had not come from Western partners. He blamed "technical issues" and said it was not the first time it had happened. The air force said the ballistic targets were only picked up by radar once the attack on Kyiv was under way, and that the cause was being investigated, TASS reported in a summary of the Ukrainian statements.
Neither Ihnat nor Zelenskiy went as far as to say that the lack of warning was due to the US cutting off Ukriane's access to satellite intelligence, although many commentators jumped to that conclusion following the White House threats over the weekend to do just that.
The warning failure came days after the US began to lean on Kyiv's lifelines. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the consequences for intelligence sharing when they pressed Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries at talks in Miami, and the Financial Times reported on October 11 that Washington was considering halting arms deliveries through Nato's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which pays for the US weapons, including Patriot interceptors, that Ukraine relies on against ballistic missiles. Even with full deliveries, Ukraine's interceptor missiles run dry faster than allies can replace them, and early warning of a launch is often the only protection civilians get.
Trump seems to have broken with Bankova completely after he did a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the weekend and demanded that Ukraine stop its attacks on Russian oil refineries – a demand that Zelenskiy blatantly ignored. Pointedly, Trump called for Zelenskiy to leave office and said that Ukraine needs a new president.
No official has said the data was cut off deliberately. The Centre for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council said it was looking into why the transfer of launch data had been disrupted and that a suspension was one possibility, though nothing had been confirmed. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was still receiving intelligence from the US, European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said Brussels had had no notice of a suspension, and Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
US Ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker also said he knew of no change to arms deliveries through PURL. "The United States continues to sell our equipment and munitions to our European and Canadian allies that then provide it to Ukraine. I know of no change to that program," he told AFP at the Warsaw Security Forum on October 12, Kyiv Post reported. He declined to comment on "unconfirmed reports".
Whitaker conceded that air defence was "in high demand, and the availability is probably not as good as we would like", but called it a "short-term challenge". Russia is stepping up its campaign to freeze Ukraine into submission, and blackouts have already begun in Kyiv. Its launches of jet-powered drones rose about tenfold from 350 in June to nearly 3,500 in September, according to Kyiv Post, part of a drone arms race that is outrunning Ukraine's interceptors.
Relations between Kyiv and Washington were already strained by President Donald Trump's Russian diesel deal. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel in October, 500,000 tonnes in November and 1mn tonnes in December, and the US has issued a general licence for Russian diesel sales until April 7, 2027. President Vladimir Putin discussed the diesel arrangements with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a phone call on October 13, along with prospects for settling the crisis in the Persian Gulf, the Kremlin said, TASS reported.
Moscow is casting the push for a ceasefire as a ploy. "Over the recent months, the call for a 'ceasefire' has replaced the slogan of 'inflicting strategic defeat on Russia' in the rhetoric of both Zelensky and the West. The objective is one and very simple: to buy time and gain a respite," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, in comments posted by the Russian embassy in London on October 13.