Zelenskyy thanks US for intelligence, disputes satellite restrictions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States on Sunday for restoring intelligence on Russian ballistic missile attacks, but accused Washington of ordering restrictions on satellite connectivity used by Ukrainian forces. A senior US official rejected the accusation as Russian and Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure continued.

“It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” Zelenskyy told NBC’s Meet the Press. He said Ukraine went without US warnings during ballistic missile attacks for three days.

Zelenskyy also said Elon Musk’s SpaceX had limited the speed at which Starlink terminals worked in Ukraine, hampering frontline drone operations and some air defence missions, according to The Guardian. “It was a message from American government to limit the speed,” he said. “And technically, SpaceX did it.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disputed that account in a separate NBC interview. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had “categorically said that no one in the Trump administration did that,” Bessent said, calling Zelenskyy’s accusation “very reckless.”

Al Jazeera reported that Kyiv had described speed-related restrictions on Starshield, a military-grade satellite service provided by SpaceX. It said Rubio stated Sunday that Ukraine was blocked from Starshield and that a Ukrainian request to use it for attacks deep inside Russia was “under discussion.”

Despite the dispute, Zelenskyy said his government was in “virtually nonstop communication” with Washington. He said he had spoken with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about diplomatic steps, adding that the war “must be brought to an end.”

The exchanges came after Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” that neither Russia nor Ukraine said it had agreed to beforehand. It quickly broke down. Zelenskyy said Russia had attacked Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since the announcement. He said strikes on facilities in four regions the previous night had left tens of thousands of families without power.

Ukraine, meanwhile, launched a major overnight drone assault on Russia. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones across the country. The Guardian reported that Ukraine had sent more than 1,000 drones against oil depots, logistics facilities and data centres, killing one person and wounding 15.

St Petersburg’s governor reported fires at an oil terminal, an oil depot and industrial warehouses. Companies also confirmed that a warehouse belonging to retailer Ozon and a VK data centre were targeted. In the surrounding Leningrad region, the governor said 145 drones had been shot down and about 20,000 people were without electricity.

In Ukraine, officials said a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and wounded at least two people, including a six-year-old girl. Al Jazeera also reported, citing Ukrainian media, that strikes killed two people in the western Volyn region and injured at least five others across the country.

Lithuania briefly told some residents to seek shelter after an unidentified object entered its airspace. NATO jets were scrambled, but cloudy weather prevented them from identifying it. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry apologised for any disruption and said Russian electronic warfare may have diverted Ukrainian drones into Lithuanian airspace.