KYIV, Ukraine — Restrictions on Ukraine’s Starshield satellite communications system are hindering its ability to intercept Russian drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.
He warned that limitations on the system, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, could weaken defenses around Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of the winter months, when Moscow has repeatedly targeted the power grid.
Ukraine’s interceptor drones continue to lose contact with their operators when flying faster than 100 mph along the front line and over Russian-occupied territory, leaving them unable to catch Russian Shahed drones, Zelensky said.
“We are counting on these restrictions to be lifted,” he wrote on social media. “The protection of lives and Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter depends on this. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the President’s Office have been instructed to work closely with the American side and SpaceX. It is important to be on the right side of history. We need to help Ukraine.”
Zelensky questioned Saturday whether the problem was technical, saying the restrictions appeared to have been imposed by SpaceX despite earlier assurances from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Starshield was more under U.S. government control.
Outages after Russian strike
Meanwhile, a Russian strike on Chornomorsk, a port city in Ukraine’s Odesa region, injured six people and damaged energy infrastructure, regional head Oleh Kiper said Sunday on Telegram.
The blast and falling debris also damaged a gas pipeline and nearby residential buildings, while two parked cars caught fire.
The strike hit a facility operated by DTEK Odesa Electric Networks, temporarily leaving about 41,000 customers without power, Kiper said.
Overnight Russian airstrikes on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia injured six other people, including a 2-year-old boy, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Sunday.
Russia launched more than 2,300 drones, 1,590 guided aerial bombs and 15 missiles of various types against Ukraine over the last week, Zelensky said.
Ukrainian attack kills 1 in Russia
Ukrainian drone strikes damaged two electrical substations in Russia’s Rostov region, killing a chief engineer, Gov. Yuri Slyusar said Sunday.
Four people were injured when drone debris fell on their cars, Slyusar wrote on social media. A fifth person was wounded when debris struck a “production facility” in the village of Troitskoye, he said.
Ukrainian forces also targeted Russia’s Tatarstan region, officials said. Radmir Belyaev, mayor of Nizhnekamsk, the region’s third-largest city, said a “large-scale and prolonged attack” damaged its industrial zone.
Six people were injured, and heating and hot water supplies were disrupted in parts of the city, he said.
Ukraine’s General Staff said it had hit two sites in Nizhnekamsk: Nizhnekamskneftekhim, one of the largest petrochemical complexes in Europe, and a production site operated by petrochemical company Sibur. An oil refinery in the area was also hit, it said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 533 Ukrainian drones overnight across 13 Russian regions, the Russian-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas.
Drones damage Black Sea ships, Romania says
Romanian Prime Minister Luca Niculescu said Sunday that three commercial vessels in the Black Sea were struck by drones overnight, the latest in a string of attacks that have raised fears of the war spilling over into NATO territory.
“Once again, maritime security in the Black Sea has been threatened,” Niculescu wrote on X.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said a Greek-flagged oil tanker was struck by a drone, sparking a fire that was extinguished by the crew. Two more ships were later struck by drones, and their crews also extinguished fires onboard, the ministry said. No casualties were reported and the ministry did not state the origin of the drones.
“These incidents are unacceptable and constitute a violation of international law,” Niculescu said, adding that they “reflect the deteriorating security situation caused by Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.”
Last month, a string of cargo ships and tankers were struck by aerial or naval drones near the Bulgarian and Romanian coastlines. At least 30 sailors on commercial ships were confirmed dead or reported missing.
“We will continue to take all necessary measures, alongside our Allies, to strengthen security in the Black Sea,” Niculescu added. “This remains a key priority for the Government, in close cooperation with our regional partners and NATO.”
Kullab writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed to this report.
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