Developments are extremely ominous for Ukraine as, while Russians advance across most of the front, launching massive and highly destructive airstrikes on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, their closest ally, the US, is reportedly exerting strong pressure on Zelensky to halt attacks on Russian refineries and accept the agreement with Russia regarding diesel supplies. Characteristically, after the Americans and intelligence services failed to provide intelligence briefings to Ukrainians regarding Russia's missile attack yesterday—something openly and publicly claimed by Zelensky, despite Trump's denial—Elon Musk's SpaceX imposed restrictions on the operating speed of the Starlink satellite system for Ukrainian military forces, a move that will directly and drastically impact their frontline operations.
With Ukrainians "blinded" and Ukrainian air defenses utterly weakened, Russians, having shifted their strategy, are striking critical strategic targets in Kyiv, Odesa, and other major Ukrainian cities with unremitting intensity. By way of illustration, following Russia's latest missile strikes, half of Kyiv has been left without power, with the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, describing the situation as extremely dramatic and appealing for the intervention and assistance of European allies... With Kyiv becoming uninhabitable and pressure from the US on Ukraine and Zelensky mounting day by day, Russia is moving ever closer to achieving its objectives.
SpaceX "cuts off" Starlink
SpaceX imposed speed restrictions on the Starlink satellite communications system for Ukrainian military forces, according to Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky known by the call sign "Flash." "The restriction concerns the 'military package' of Starlink services, StarShield, and has been set at a speed of 100 miles per hour (approximately 161 kilometers per hour). Our defense forces received no prior notification regarding this," he wrote on social media. According to Beskrestnov, this measure resulted in the cancellation of certain operations previously planned by the Ukrainian armed forces. He also pointed out that this specific decision can hardly be considered coincidental and likely relates to the political situation.
Problems in Ukrainian communications
This development was also confirmed by former Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Serhii Sternenko, who maintained that the operation of Starlink satellite communication terminals was restricted during the night. "Tonight, the operation of Starlink terminals was restricted," Sternenko wrote on his Telegram channel. According to him, during the night, when terminals were moving at speeds exceeding 160 kilometers per hour, satellite connections began dropping, causing disruptions for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Sternenko expressed the assessment that SpaceX may have imposed this specific restriction at the request of the US government.
My generals told me...
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that for the second consecutive day, Ukraine did not receive intelligence from its partners regarding ballistic missile launches by Russia toward Kyiv. The United States warned Ukraine about the potential suspension of intelligence sharing, Zelensky said, according to the "Novosti.Live" Telegram channel. "My generals told me they received this information at the military level," Zelensky confirmed. The Ukrainian President clarified that the cause behind the American warning is Ukrainian attacks against Russian oil refineries. Two days earlier, CNN had reported that Washington dispatched a warning to Kyiv stating it was prepared to halt the provision of such intelligence. Concurrently, Politico reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces might also lose access to the Starlink satellite communications system. Additionally, Zelensky claimed that since last Sunday, October 12, when Trump announced the energy ceasefire, Ukraine has not attacked Russian refineries.
What Trump says
It is noted that prior to these developments, US President Donald Trump accused Zelensky of ignoring calls to halt Ukrainian attacks against Russian oil refineries at a time when he is speaking about an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and an agreement with Putin to supply the American and global markets with Russian diesel. According to Trump, Zelensky should have concluded a peace agreement with Moscow long ago, but instead "created problems for everyone." Trump also suggested that the head of the Ukrainian government proceed with holding elections so that Ukrainian citizens can elect a leader more willing to reach a deal. Despite these attacks against Zelensky, Trump maintained that Washington continues to provide intelligence to Ukraine. Reuters and other media outlets have reported that American officials threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and arms sales to Ukraine if the latter does not stop attacking Russian refineries. According to experts and officials, Kyiv relies heavily on American intelligence for early warning regarding missile attacks. "We are helping them and sharing information with them," stated President Trump, who, when asked whether Russia had violated the ceasefire, replied: "I will let you know about that later." Asked whether Russia could use the proceeds from the diesel deal to buy more bombs, Trump avoided a direct answer. "This is a diesel deal, not for us. The fuel is going into the global market. It is not going to us," said the American president.
Air raid sirens... after the explosions
Nevertheless, on Monday evening, October 11, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv only after several explosions had already occurred in the city. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated that Ukraine continues to receive American military intelligence and attributed the warning delay to the type of weapon used by Russia. In a message, Zelensky stated that he has sent proposals to American officials aimed at organizing new meetings in the coming days with American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to examine ways to resolve the conflict. Zelensky stated that Ukraine supports Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire, provided that Russia observes it. "We must work for peace, we must seek ways to proceed with the right actions. Ukraine is ready for meetings," Zelensky underscored.
Europeans cannot substitute Americans
Fabian Hoffmann, a missile systems expert at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, stated that Ukraine's European allies have a "very limited" ability to substitute American early warning intelligence for Russian missile strikes. "Ukraine relies on the so-called Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), which the United States possesses. The American system is truly peerless, and only the United States can provide such capabilities," Hoffmann noted. However, Sybiha stated that the American request to halt attacks against Russian refineries demonstrates how much Ukraine's position has strengthened. With his statement, he referenced a comment Trump made to Zelensky during a tense Oval Office meeting the previous year, when he told him that "you don't have the cards." "In less than two years, we went from 'you don't have the cards' to 'don't play your cards.' That is an achievement," Sybiha stated.
"Extremely dramatic situation": Half of Kyiv without power
And while the Ukrainian Foreign Minister speaks of "Ukraine's cards," half of Kyiv has been left without power following Russia's latest missile strikes. As announced by the Ukrainian energy group DTEK, emergency power outages occurred in half of Kyiv's districts following explosions and damage to energy facilities. "Damage to energy facilities caused emergency power outages in the Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Pecherskyi, Solomianskyi districts, as well as a section of the Holosiivskyi district in the Ukrainian capital," stated an announcement published on the company's Telegram channel. Earlier, the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced that he participated in a European Commission meeting during which he appealed for assistance from Ukraine's partners. Kyiv needs backup power systems, as well as transformers and equipment to repair electricity, district heating, and water supply networks. Klitschko described the situation in the Ukrainian capital as "extremely dramatic." Previously, the former head of Ukraine's electricity transmission system operator Ukrenergo stated that the Ukrainian energy sector's preparations for winter had failed.
Ukrainians failed to intercept 35 out of 39 Russian missiles
In the early hours of October 14, Russian armed forces launched missile and drone attacks against energy facilities in the Kyiv region, according to an announcement by the Russian Ministry of Defence. As announced by the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked with 39 missiles and 128 drones. According to an announcement by the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrainian air defense managed to shoot down or neutralize four missiles and 115 drones. Consequently, 35 out of 39 missiles were not intercepted. Among the missiles used were Iskander-M, KN-23, S-400, Zircon, and Oniks variants. A particular characteristic of the attack was the simultaneous use of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles from different directions, as well as the large number of ballistic missiles directed against energy facilities. Concurrently, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that the country's partners had not warned about the ballistic attack carried out overnight.
The targets
As a result of the attack, telecommunications and energy infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions—used to service the needs of Ukraine's military-industrial complex and the Ukrainian Armed Forces—were hit, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced. Explosions occurred at the "Kyivska" electrical substation in the Nalyvaikivka area, the CHP-5 combined heat and power plant, and the Trypilska thermal power plant. Consequently, the left-bank district of the city was left without electricity. Specifically, as announced by the Russian Ministry of Defence, there were massive Russian strikes on thermal power plants and telecommunications infrastructure in Ukraine, hitting:
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The Darnytska thermal power plant (CHP-4), which supplies electricity to Ukrainian defense industry facilities in Kyiv.
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The CHP-5 and CHP-6 thermal power plants, which feed military installations and military-industrial complex enterprises in Kyiv and its wider region, as well as military logistics facilities in the northeastern part of the Kyiv region.
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The Trypilska thermal power plant in the Kyiv region.
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The Kharkivska thermal power plant, which supplies electricity to defense industry facilities in Kharkiv and the western part of the eponymous region.
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The Kyivska electrical substation, which ensures the transmission of electricity from western Ukrainian regions and its distribution to Ukrainian Armed Forces installations in the Kyiv region.
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The Zmiivska power generation plant, which, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence, supplies energy to Ukrainian Armed Forces installations in the southeastern part of the Kharkiv region.
Ash and data center
Additionally, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the "ATM Ukrsibbank" data processing center was hit, which, according to Moscow's claims, was used for internet traffic exchange in order to collect intelligence regarding the Russian Armed Forces. The attacks were carried out with high-precision weapons launched from land-based platforms, as well as long-range drones.
Massive damage - Water supply problems, 600,000 without power
According to the Ukrainian newspaper Strana, all of Kyiv's combined heat and power plants sustained damage from the explosions. Damage was also recorded at the Trypilska thermal power plant, the largest energy facility in the Kyiv region. According to the report, strikes against all thermal power plants in the Ukrainian capital occurred during the night and morning. In the Kyiv region, the Trypilska station and the Kyivska and Novokyivska electrical substations, with voltage levels of 750 and 330 kilovolts (kV) respectively, were also damaged. Ukrainian media outlet Insider reported that the final supply chain center of the Epicentr company was destroyed by the explosions. According to the report, the facility was located in the city of Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine. The Kyivvodokanal water company announced that water supply disruptions may occur in Kyiv's Pecherskyi district. The cause is the power outage at a pumping station within the city's water supply network. At the same time, Zelensky stated that the country's energy facilities sustained significant damage due to explosions. According to him, at least 600,000 people were left without electricity as a result of the attacks.
Davis (US retired lieutenant colonel): Zelensky should sign peace with Russia now
Instead of complaining, Zelensky should proceed with concluding an agreement with Russia after losing access to intelligence, argued retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis in a post on the X platform. "Perhaps they should finally do the right thing and make peace on the best terms available, saving the lives of all remaining Ukrainian citizens," he states in his post. Davis added that receiving intelligence can hardly help Ukraine since, according to him, the country is in no position to intercept Russian missiles.
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