Ukraine on Wednesday (October 14, 2026) accused the United States of helping Russia by failing to warn it of incoming missile strikes and hobbling its military response through changes to the Starlink system it uses on the battlefield.

President Volodymyr Zelensky framed the lack of notice about a wave of powerful strikes on Tuesday (October 13) night and early Wednesday (October 14) as “completely unjust”, and accused Russia of wilfully flouting a supposed “energy ceasefire” announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

A senior official in Kyiv confirmed that the United States had in recent days threatened to stop providing intelligence about Russian missile launches that Ukraine uses to thwart attacks. Mr. Trump denied doing so on Tuesday (October 13).

But they and defence officials also suggested Washington was behind slower speeds reported on some Starlink internet terminals which help Ukraine’s military hit Russian-occupied territory and operate interceptor drones.

“It’s obvious they (the United States) are helping Russia for some reason,” the senior official told AFP.

Mr. Zelensky adviser Sergiy Beskrestnov said the attacks and Starlink restrictions were more than a coincidence as the network was “the most effective solution” for protecting Ukraine against jet-powered Russian attack drones, which can fly at up to 600 kilometres (370 miles) per hour.

“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,” he wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian defence sources said SpaceX, owned by tech titan Elon Musk, “unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals… without prior warning”, hitting connectivity for its drones.

Close contact

There was no immediate comment from either Musk or SpaceX.

But last weekend he backed Donald Trump, who has enraged Western allies by announcing a diesel-supply deal with heavily sanctioned Moscow and blindsided both sides in the nearly five-year conflict by announcing an “energy ceasefire”.

Mr. Trump also angrily hit out at Mr. Zelensky — and even suggested he should be replaced as president — unless he stopped Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was watching for any sign that Washington’s backing for Ukraine may have shifted.

“We are carefully noting all this. It is too early to draw any systemic conclusions,” he told reporters.

President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy on economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, meanwhile said the first contracts on providing diesel to the United States would be signed in the coming days.

“We are in close, hourly contact with the American side, and everything is moving very quickly,” he added.

Mr. Trump, facing crunch mid-term elections next month, has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for the squeeze on fuel supplies and increase in prices at the pump.

But most experts say the real reason is the joint U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran since late February, which have seen Tehran block off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.

‘Disrespect’

Ballistic missiles have now struck the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, for two nights running, before air raid sirens could sound in time to warn people to take cover in basements, bomb shelters or metro stations.

“Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States,” said Mr. Zelensky, accusing Moscow of squandering a chance to ease hostilities. Russia does not consider the American President’s statements strong.”

The lack of warning has been reported only rarely during the conflict and Ukrainian officials have previously suggested the Russian military’s use of hard-to-detect missiles or potential technical issues could be to blame.

Six people were killed and dozens more wounded in Kyiv on Wednesday (October 14), the authorities said, while significant damage to energy facilities and equipment knocked out power to swathes of the city.

Power plants came under ballistic-missile attack in the eastern Kharkiv region, while Zhytomyr in the northwest, Sumy in the northeast and Chernigiv in the north were also hit.

Russia has previously targeted Ukraine’s power stations and heating infrastructure, crippling supplies before winter, when temperatures can plummet to as low as -20C.

Two people were killed in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and a further person in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, the authorities said.

Six others were killed in a drone strike at a wholesaler in the western city of Lutsk, the Interior Ministry said.

Published – October 14, 2026 09:50 pm IST

Daily newspapers with covers, dedicated to the recent phone call of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, are laid out at a newsstand in a street in Moscow, Russia, February 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Kremlin said on Friday (February 14, 2025) that the Group of Seven nations no longer united the world’s fastest growing economies and had therefore lost much of its relevance after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would love to have Russia return to the group.

“I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8,” Mr. Trump said on Thursday.

Russia had been a member of the G7 club of industrialized democracies, then known as the G8, until Moscow was excluded following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.

When asked about Mr. Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call, “We have repeatedly said that the group which is now called the G7 has lost much of its relevance. It brings together countries that are not now leaders in terms of growth, when it comes to various parameters,”.

“Centres of growth have moved to other regions of the globe. We are much more interested in continuing our constructive work within the framework of the G20. A forum like the G20 is probably more reflective of the globe’s economic ‘locomotive’.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, on November 28, 2024. Mr. Putin said “in his opinion” Donald Trump is not safe now
| Photo Credit: via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday (November 28, 2024) as an experienced and intelligent politician, but said he did not believe Mr. Trump was safe after attempts on his life.

Mr. Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. In a separate incident in September, a man was charged with attempted assassination after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle at one of Mr. Trump’s Florida golf courses.

Speaking to reporters in Kazakhstan after a summit, Mr. Putin said he had been shocked by the way the U.S. election campaign had unfolded.

He cited “the absolutely uncivilised methods used to battle against Mr. Trump, up to and including an assassination attempt — and more than once”.

“By the way, in my opinion, he is not safe now,” said Mr. Putin.

File picture of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in 2019
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

“Unfortunately, in the history of the United States various incidents have happened. I think he (Trump) is intelligent and I hope he’s cautious and understands this.”

Shocked at Trump criticism

Mr. Putin, who is himself heavily protected, said he had been even more shocked though by how Mr. Trump’s family and children had been criticised by political opponents during the U.S. election campaign.

He called such behaviour “revolting” and said in Russia not even “bandits” would resort to such methods.

Talking about what he described as the Biden administration’s decision to escalate the war in Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with Western missiles, Mr. Putin speculated that it could be a ploy to either help Mr. Trump by giving him something to roll back or a way of making his life more difficult with Russia.

Either way, Mr. Putin said he thought Mr. Trump would “find the solution” and said Moscow was ready for dialogue.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Kremlin said Sunday (November 10, 2024) that it saw “positive signals” from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s position on Ukraine, while warning it was hard to predict how he would behave in office.

Also Read: ‘Worry’ in Ukraine at Trump victory at critical moment in war

“The signals are positive. Trump during his election talked about how he perceives everything through deals, that he can make a deal that can lead to peace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with State media published Sunday, November 10, 2024.

But Mr. Peskov said it was hard to predict “to what extent he’s going to stick to statements that he made on the campaign trail”.

“I take this opportunity to congratulate him,” Putin said (File)