Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Russia’s latest ‘brutal’ strikes in an emotional plea for SpaceX to lift the restrictions under which Kyiv’s hardware could remain connected to Elon Musk‘s satellite network.
Vladimir Putin rained down ‘more than 2,300 attack drones, 1,590 aerial bombs, and 15 missiles of various types’ in recent days, with the Ukrainian military unable to defend themselves due to alleged imposed speed limits on Starshield.
Only last night, Ukrainian firefighters rushed to apartment buildings targeted by Russian guided aerial bomb strikes on Zaporizhzhia, which saw a two-year-old injured, as well as four other people.
Energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia and the Sumy, Odesa, Zhytomyr, and Kirovohrad regions have also been targeted, as well as railway infrastructure in the Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Strikes also hit the Donetsk and Kyiv regions, with a total of 16 people injured.
However, Zelensky explained in a post on X that these strikes have been able to get past their defence systems due to ‘restrictions on the operating speed of Starshield terminals along the front line’ which their infrastructure relies on.
‘Our interceptor drones lose connection with their operators at a speed of 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) and simply cannot catch up with Russian jet-powered “shaheds”,’ the Ukrainian leader wrote. A ‘shahed’ is an unmanned ‘kamikaze drone’ manufactured in Iran.
‘We are counting on these restrictions being lifted. The protection of lives and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter directly depends on this,’ he added.
A rescuer escorts an elderly woman with a bloodied face during a response effort to a Russian guided aerial bomb strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
A firefighter extinguishes a fire after a Russian guided aerial bomb strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers of the 68th Oleksa Dovbush Separate Jaeger Brigadeset up Starlink satellite internet system near the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region
‘It is important to be on the right side of history. It is essential to help Ukraine.’
Ukraine’s military, foreign office and presidential office have been instructed to work closely with US officials and SpaceX.
Ukraine first reported problems using Starshield – the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink – last month following a row between Zelensky and Donald Trump over a US-Russia diesel deal.
Zelensky had made a similar call for restrictions to be lifted on Friday at the presidential palace in Kyiv after a week of ceasefire talks with European leaders.
He reportedly said then that the imposed speed limits appeared to be ‘political’ rather than ‘technical’ and were not ‘random errors’, but added that there was ‘no clear explanation’ as to why their systems were being restricted.
SpaceX have previously said that there were ‘no restrictions’ and Zelensky’s suggestions were false, with problems said to be detected across the ‘entire frontline’. The Daily Mail have contacted SpaceX for comment.
However, Zelensky has been suspicious that the slowdown could be linked to America’s attempt at peace talks, forcing Ukraine to make concessions to Putin, which Trump has previously denied.
In the latest talks this week, the US reportedly suggested Ukraine cede territory in the Donbas to Russia in exchange for joining Nato.
The talks ended with no breakthrough in Europe’s worst war since the Second World War, but all sides agreed that European officials should be included in future negotiations.
Russia, which illegally invaded Ukraine more than four years ago, also turned down a proposal for a ceasefire in attacks on energy targets at the Abu Dhabi talks, Mr Zelensky said.
President Zelensky said Russia was ‘betting everything’ on this winter’s campaign in its war with Ukraine, while warning that the Kremlin’s demands to redraw Europe’s security architecture are ‘dangerous’ and could lead to more wars.
He spoke to the media on Friday after visits to Denmark and Ireland, where he met with European leaders following two days of US-brokered Ukraine-Russia talks in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, overnight an inferno gripped one of Russia‘s largest petrochemical plants after it was struck by Ukrainian drones.
Three people have been injured at the Tatarstan Oil Refinery Complex in the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk, a city about 620 miles (1,000km) east of Moscow and part of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Several fires are believed to still be raging, with shocking footage circulating on Russian and Ukrainian social media of the blaze revealing huge clouds of smoke and ginormous fires erupting from chimneys on the plant.
Overnight an inferno gripped one of Russia’s largest petrochemical plants, Tatarstan Oil Refinery Complex, after it was struck by Ukrainian drones
Nizhnekamsk, a city of about 240,000 people, is often dubbed the ‘petrochemical capital’ of Tatarstan. It is home to oil refineries and a major petrochemical plant
It formed as part of coordinated Ukrainian attacks of more than 500 drones, which also saw a strategic bridge being targeted.
Radmir Belyayev, the Nizhnekamsk’s mayor, wrote on Telegram: ‘Early this morning, Nizhnekamsk was the target of a massive and prolonged attack by enemy drones. As a result of this attack, facilities in the industrial zone were damaged.’
Nizhnekamsk, a city of about 240,000 people, is often dubbed the ‘petrochemical capital’ of Tatarstan. It is home to oil refineries and a major petrochemical plant.
Ukrainian and Russian media said the strikes caused a fire at the Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK) petrochemical complex, owned by leading Russian company Sibur.
A multistory residential complex was also hit and three people were injured, the head of the region’s health ministry was cited by state media as saying.
An engineer at an electricity substation was killed in separate Ukrainian strikes overnight on Taganrog, an industrial port city in the Rostov-on-Don region, which borders Ukraine, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said, and a further five have been injured.
Taganrog mayor Svetlana Kambulova said a fire at a substation had been put out and a local state of emergency had been declared.
There was no immediate response from Kyiv, which says it targets Russian industrial facilities in response to deadly Russian strikes on its own territory.
READ MORE: US said Ukraine could give Donbas to Russia in exchange for joining Nato, Zelensky claims
READ MORE: Elon Musk’s Starlink slowdown ‘throttled’ Ukraine’s ability to employ drone strikes
