The United States may have intentionally withheld early warnings of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine this week, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners before a ballistic missile barrage hit Kyiv and other locations early Tuesday. American officials reportedly blamed “bad weather” for a failure in the system that detects Russian missile launches. Ukrainian officials did not accept that explanation and accused the U.S. of playing with the system. The early warning system appeared to be working again during a second wave around 3 a.m. Wednesday, the sources said.
Zelenskyy said Russia fired more than 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions overnight, mostly at energy and infrastructure targets in Kyiv and Kharkiv. He said six people were killed and about 600,000 were left without power.
Asked whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, President Trump said, “No, we haven’t.” Sources told CBS News the U.S. had not halted intelligence sharing overall. Earlier in the week, the administration reportedly threatened to stop intelligence sharing and to block European purchases of U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine unless Kyiv halted deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian military units also reported Starlink disruptions Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. SpaceX has not publicly commented on the restrictions, and CBS News said it had reached out to SpaceX, the White House and the Pentagon.
