Ukrainian officials blame Pentagon for withholding life-saving intel from Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. appears to have stopped sharing some forms of key intelligence with Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, dealing a blow to the country’s capacity to defend its skies and to continue its highly effective mid- and long-range strike campaign.

U.S. President Donald Trump has so far denied that there had been any interruption in Starlink connectivity or incoming missile warnings — the two forms of American intelligence that Ukrainian officials say are no longer flowing freely to Kyiv.

The crisis comes just days after Trump told allies that the U.S. would ease sanctions on Russian diesel last week during peace talks in Miami. He then reportedly threatened to cut off intelligence and weapons sales to Kyiv if it kept striking Russia’s oil infrastructure, according to CNN .

“Ukraine did not strike Russian oil refining and the energy sector in general for two days after the American President announced a ceasefire in the energy sector. But Russia did not listen,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, there was a ballistic missile strike on Kyiv yesterday, and there was no warning from our partners regarding this attack. Usually, such a warning is provided, and it is a crucial factor that aids our defense.”

Partner intelligence is an indispensable asset for Kyiv, which relies on NATO and especially U.S. information for both offensive and defensive operations. Curtailing that relationship could cost civilian lives along with the virtual stalemate Ukraine has managed to establish along the frontline, according to Ukrainian officials.

“Intelligence data on the launch of Russian ballistic missiles helps save people’s lives, and this is one of the most critical issues. This is what helps prevent people being killed when there is a warning about ballistics,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

On Sunday, Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow — without the confirmation of either party, officials from both countries said.

Ukraine initially resisted Trump’s push to spare Russia’s oil network, repeating that it would stop hitting refineries only if Moscow stopped striking Ukrainian power plants. After Trump declared an “energy ceasefire” that Moscow never accepted, Kyiv held its fire for three days. Russia, however, did not.

Kyiv residents heard at least five powerful explosions Sunday night before air-raid sirens sounded.

Rumors immediately circulated that the missing alert stemmed from a disruption in partner intelligence, but officials initially urged people not to jump to conclusions.

“You can call me an optimist, but I don’t believe (I don’t want to believe) that the United States will leave us without this information,” presidential adviser and communications expert Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov wrote Monday on Telegram , noting that Ukraine still relies on partners for reports of ballistic missile launches.

“Because it’s about the survival of civilians,” he wrote.

But when more missiles and drones struck Kyiv the following day, mainly targeting energy infrastructure and the power grid, reports began surfacing across the country that strike drones, interceptors and frontline vehicles were losing connection above roughly 100 mph (160 km/h), units across the country reported.

By Wednesday, multiple officials confirmed that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had restricted Starshield, the military version of its Starlink service, without notice, just as Kyiv struggles against faster Russian jet drones , larger ballistic and cruise missile barrages and a global shortage of missile interceptors .

“This complicates UAV missions, particularly those involving interceptors and mid-range strike drones, and hampers capabilities for frontline logistics, reconnaissance, and signal relay,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Wednesday.

Zelenskyy ended the pause on hitting Russian energy facilities on Wednesday after Kremlin forces kept striking Ukraine’s grid days after Trump declared a ceasefire.

“We’re done,” he told the Financial Times after making the decision.

Katie Livingstone is the Ukraine correspondent for Defense News and Military Times. Based in Kyiv, she has covered Russia's full-scale invasion since its first days. She is a former Fulbright fellow whose award-winning work has appeared in outlets across Europe and the U.S.

乌克兰基辅——乌克兰官员周三表示，美国似乎已经停止与基辅分享某些关键情报，这对该国保卫领空和继续开展高效的中远程打击行动的能力造成了打击。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普迄今为止否认星链连接或来袭导弹预警出现任何中断——乌克兰官员称，这两种美国情报形式已不再自由地流向基辅。

就在几天前，特朗普在迈阿密举行的和平谈判期间告诉盟友，美国将放松对俄罗斯柴油的制裁。据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报道，他随后威胁称，如果俄罗斯继续袭击其石油基础设施，美国将切断对基辅的情报和武器销售。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基周二表示：“美国总统宣布能源领域停火后的两天里，乌克兰没有对俄罗斯炼油厂和整个能源部门发动袭击。但俄罗斯没有听从。”

“不幸的是，昨天基辅遭到弹道导弹袭击，我们的伙伴没有就此次袭击发出任何警告。通常情况下，他们会发出此类警告，这对于我们的防御至关重要。”

伙伴情报对基辅而言至关重要，乌克兰在进攻和防御行动中都依赖北约，尤其是美国的情报。乌克兰官员表示，削弱这种关系不仅会造成平民伤亡，还会破坏乌克兰在前线勉强维持的僵局。

泽连斯基在Telegram上表示：“有关俄罗斯弹道导弹发射的情报数据有助于拯救生命，这是最关键的问题之一。正是这些数据在弹道导弹预警发布时能够防止人员伤亡。”

周日，特朗普宣布基辅和莫斯科之间实现能源停火——但两国官员表示，这一消息并未得到任何一方的确认。

乌克兰最初抵制特朗普提出的不袭击俄罗斯石油网络的提议，反复强调只有莫斯科停止袭击乌克兰发电厂，乌克兰才会停止袭击炼油厂。在特朗普宣布“能源停火”（莫斯科从未接受）后，基辅暂停了三天的炮火袭击。然而，俄罗斯并未停止炮火袭击。

周日晚间，基辅居民在空袭警报响起前至少听到了五次强烈的爆炸声。

谣言立即传开，称警报缺失是由于合作伙伴情报中断造成的，但官员们最初敦促人们不要妄下结论。

“你可以说我是个乐观主义者，但我并不相信（我也不想相信）美国会让我们失去这些信息，”总统顾问兼通信专家谢尔盖·“闪电”·别斯克列斯特诺夫周一在 Telegram 上写道，并指出乌克兰仍然依赖合作伙伴提供弹道导弹发射的报告。

“因为这关系到平民的生存，”他写道。

但第二天，当更多导弹和无人机袭击基辅，主要目标是能源基础设施和电网时，全国各地开始出现报道，称攻击无人机、拦截机和前线车辆在时速超过约 100 英里（160 公里/小时）时会失去联系，全国各地的部队都报告了这一消息。

截至周三，多位官员证实，埃隆·马斯克的 SpaceX 公司在未事先通知的情况下限制了其 Starlink 服务的军用版本 Starshield，而此时基辅正努力应对速度更快的俄罗斯喷气式无人机、更大规模的弹道导弹和巡航导弹齐射以及全球导弹拦截器短缺的问题。

“这会使无人机任务变得复杂，特别是涉及拦截机和中程攻击无人机的任务，并阻碍前线后勤、侦察和信号中继能力，”国防部周三在一份声明中表示。

在特朗普宣布停火数日后，克里姆林宫军队继续袭击乌克兰电网，泽连斯基于周三结束了对俄罗斯能源设施的暂停打击。

“我们结束了，”他在做出决定后告诉《金融时报》。

凯蒂·利文斯通是《防务新闻》和《军事时报》的乌克兰特派记者。她常驻基辅，自俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰之初便开始报道此事。她曾是富布赖特学者，其获奖作品发表于欧洲和美国的多家媒体。