President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned on Tuesday that Kyiv had obtained no warning from its Western companions earlier than a Russian ballistic missile assault the evening earlier than. His assertion got here days after the Trump administration appeared to threaten to chop off intelligence sharing until Ukraine stopped hanging Russian oil refineries.
It was unclear whether or not Mr. Zelensky was suggesting that the US had stopped sharing satellite tv for pc intelligence, which might be a significant escalation in Mr. Trump’s newest feud with Ukraine, or whether or not Washington had merely didn’t detect the assault. Ukraine depends on the intelligence to detect incoming missile assaults.
In a social media submit, Mr. Zelensky mentioned that 5 Russian missiles had hit civilian infrastructure within the strike, with out specifying whether or not it had prompted any casualties.
Russia has beforehand fired missiles that Western satellites have struggled to trace, together with S-400 missiles, which Ukraine has at occasions described as ballistic weapons. Serhiy Beskrestnov, a army knowledgeable who advises Mr. Zelensky, mentioned after the assault on Monday that it was not the primary time Western companions had didn’t detect a launch of S-400 missiles.
Hours later, at a safety convention in Warsaw on Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s overseas minister, Andrii Sybiha, mentioned that intelligence sharing continued and that the assault went undetected “due to a particular sort of weaponry which was utilized by the Russian facet.”
Fears that Washington would possibly reduce off intelligence sharing with Ukraine emerged after Mr. Trump struck a take care of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to purchase tens of millions of tons of Russian gasoline. The settlement, earlier than the U.S. midterm elections, is a part of an effort to carry down sky-high diesel costs prompted principally by the U.S.-Israeli warfare towards Iran.
As they offered the deal to the Ukrainians at a gathering final week in Miami, Trump administration officers requested Kyiv to cease hanging Russian oil refineries in order that Russian diesel might movement again onto the market. They mentioned Kyiv owed Washington for crucial U.S. intelligence help, which some within the room took as a veiled menace. A U.S. official later denied any suggestion that intelligence assist could be withheld.
Mr. Zelensky mentioned Ukraine had shunned attacking Russian oil refineries over the previous two days, framing it as a gesture of excellent will towards Mr. Trump, who on Friday declared an power cease-fire that neither Kyiv nor Moscow has confirmed. Ukraine has warned that such a cease-fire would work provided that Russia stopped its assaults on Ukrainian power amenities.
The Trump administration has proven earlier than that it’s keen to withhold intelligence as a lever towards Ukraine. After a gathering between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky devolved right into a shouting match in early 2025, Washington paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine for just a few days.
On Monday, Russian missiles struck Kyiv round 10 p.m. native time. Air-raid alerts sounded too late, after the missiles had been launched, leaving residents with no warning. The lapse instantly prompted hypothesis on-line that Washington had reduce off intelligence sharing.
Ukraine lacks the intensive satellite-based intelligence capabilities of the US and depends on info from Western companions to observe Russian army preparations signaling an assault. That features exercise at air bases, actions of ships and the deployment of ballistic missile launchers.
“Our NATO companions inform us when there’s exercise involving strategic aviation. Flights from one airfield to a different. The place missiles are being delivered,” Col. Yurii Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Pressure spokesman, mentioned in an interview this summer time. Generally, he added, Western satellites detected a flash indicating a missile launch, and companions instantly knowledgeable Ukraine.
Commenting on the in a single day assault, Colonel Ihnat instructed Ukrainian nationwide tv that Western intelligence generally “fails to reach.”
“This isn’t the primary case,” he mentioned. “If there have been sure technical points this time, I imagine the consultants can type it out. And we’ll resolve this downside along with our companions.”
Mr. Zelensky mentioned Western intelligence was crucial. “That is what helps stop killings when there’s a warning about ballistic missiles,” he mentioned in a social media submit on Tuesday.
The price of lacking early warnings is maybe felt most keenly within the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv, which lies solely about 20 miles from the Russian border. Air-raid alerts generally can’t be sounded quick sufficient when Russia assaults town.
On Monday evening, volleys of drones hit Kharkiv, rocking town middle with loud, rumbling explosions. Fires burned in a number of areas. One strike tore right into a residential constructing, collapsing flats to the bottom. The mayor, Ihor Terekhov, mentioned in a social media submit that 4 folks had been killed on Monday and that two extra strikes hit town the subsequent day.
On Tuesday, rescuers who labored via the evening have been nonetheless on the web site of the residential constructing, pulling a physique from the wreckage. Exhausted firefighters rested on the open trunks of autos as bulldozers cleared blackened rubble of bricks and belongings. A burning odor hung within the air.
Lyubov Smal, 69, one of many residents, with stitches on cuts to her face, mentioned she had been cooking cutlets in her kitchen when a drone struck the constructing.
Bleeding, she made her approach via smoke to the touchdown and was helped out by firefighters. Twelve hours later, she got here again to plead for assist in discovering her cat. Resting from working via the evening, two rescuers jumped up and climbed the blackened stairs to a third-floor residence.
“He received’t chew us?” they jokingly requested. Minutes later, they have been again with an enormous grey cat with yellow eyes. He dug his claws into the fleece of a neighbor, leaping at loud noises as bulldozers resumed clearing rubble.
Kamila Hrabchuk contributed reporting from Kharkiv.