The intelligence not shared by the United States regarding the attacks on Kyiv and the restrictions on Starlink at the front

Last night at 10:40 p.m., explosions rocked Kyiv even before the air-raid siren sounded. Russia struck the city with ballistic missiles. The siren began to sound 30 seconds too late, after the bombardment had already begun, leaving residents no time to take shelter. One of the missiles struck a nine-storey residential block in the Desnianskyi district, killing three people and injuring 19. “Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, without any warning from our allies,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media. The missiles were only detected when they were already approaching the capital.

This is the second day running that this has happened. Until recently, it was the Americans who were warning the Ukrainians of impending ballistic missile attacks. “Only America can warn of ballistic missile launches, and always in a timely manner,” explains a source at Il Foglio within the President’s Office. But since US President Donald Trump agreed with Vladimir Putin on the supply of Russian diesel to the US market, much has changed. On 11 October, Trump announced an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine. Since then, Kyiv has not struck any Russian refineries for two days running. Moscow, on the other hand, carried out targeted strikes on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure during the night of 13–14 October. The attack on the energy sector was even officially confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defence.

“It is completely unjust that they are also destroying energy infrastructure and that Ukraine does not even receive warnings about ballistic missile launches,” commented Zelensky following the attack. In a single night, Russia launched 39 ballistic missiles at Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv.

However, for Ukrainians, the bad news does not end there. Reports have circulated that, overnight, Elon Musk’s SpaceX introduced a speed limit on moving Starlink terminals (according to various sources, the restriction applies to speeds exceeding 100–160 kilometres per hour; volunteer Serhij Sternenko even mentions 60–70 kilometres per hour). This refers to the so-called ‘military package’ of Starshield services – that is, the connection used directly at the front line. It will not affect deep strikes on Russian territory, because Starlink does not work there, but it will certainly impact middle strikes and drone attacks in the occupied territories, military analyst Denys Popovyč explains to Il Foglio. “For example, strikes against the Novorossiya road and against targets in Crimea,” he says.

The information regarding Starlink has been confirmed by the military. The 7th Airborne Assault Corps stated that units deployed along the Huliajpole axis, in the Zaporizhzhia region, began experiencing problems overnight relating to restrictions on data transmission speeds. These changes have hampered the deployment of drones that rely on Starlink for in-flight control. “The reduction in the drone’s flight speed creates additional risks: slower targets are more vulnerable to enemy fire,” reads the corps’ statement. The problem is even more serious when launching high-speed drones: some of them, particularly ‘middle strike’ drones, must immediately reach very high speeds, and an unstable connection can make even take-off impossible. The consequences of the new restrictions are already evident. “Due to communication problems, we have had to cancel some of our missions,” the 7th Corps admits.

The restriction on Starlink, notes Serhij Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, will not only affect the front line but also civilians. According to him, Starlink is used for jet-powered drone interceptors. “In practice, through their actions, our partners are depriving us of one of the few options we have to defend the country against jet-powered Shaheds,” he writes on Facebook. Despite these challenges, Ukraine continues to fight. Andriy Biletsky, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, announced the conclusion of Operation ‘Vivaldi’ on the Lyman axis, which had been ongoing since the end of May. In total, the Ukrainian Defence Forces have managed to regain control of 277 square kilometres.