KYIV: The United States is helping Russia in its war with Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Wednesday, blaming Washington for not warning Kyiv about incoming strikes and slowing Starlink.
"There have already been two cases where the Americans did not provide warnings about Russian ballistic launches, a massive ballistic attack against our energy sector... And on top of that they've throttled Starlink speeds," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
In another report, a technology adviser to the Ukrainian president said restrictions of Starlink internet terminal operations were "depriving" Ukraine of defence against Russia's jet-powered drones, after a night of massive Russian strikes.
"Through their actions, our partners are depriving us of one of the few chances we have to defend the country against jet-powered Shahed drones," Sergiy Beskrestnov said on Telegram.
Another senior Ukrainian official confirmed to AFP reports in recent days that Washington threatened to pull intelligence-sharing with Kyiv that it relies on to detect incoming attacks.
The renewed signs of strain with Trump have cast doubt on those arrangements, as air raid sirens warning of approaching drones or missiles failed to sound on Monday night and Tuesday night before explosions were heard.
That has occurred only rarely in the past. Ukrainian officials attributed the issue to the Russian military's use of hard-to-detect missiles or potential technical issues.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday evening said Ukraine had received "no early warning from our partners" about ballistic missile launches, calling it "absolutely unjust".
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd