Russian Strikes Leave 600,000 Without Power as Ukraine Reports Starlink Restrictions

Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions overnight on October 13-14, killing at least three people, injuring more than 20, and damaging energy infrastructure despite U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian forces fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, and Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The attacks left at least 600,000 people without electricity, he added.

“This was a targeted Russian ballistic strike specifically against the energy sector - an area regarding which the U.S. President had called for a ceasefire. The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale. Russia has never before shown such blatant disrespect toward America,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said all three of Kyiv's combined heat and power plants had been attacked, along with critical infrastructure in Kyiv Oblast supplying electricity to the capital and central regions. “The targets of Russian ballistic missiles were power system facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and the region,” he said.

Explosions were first heard in Kyiv late on October 13, when a Russian missile struck a nine-story residential building in the Desnyanskyi district with little warning, setting off a large fire, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko reported. At least three women were killed and 24 people, including a 7-year-old girl, were injured, according to the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office. Sixteen injured people were hospitalized, four of them in serious condition, Klitschko said.

More than a dozen explosions were heard between 4:45 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. local time during subsequent waves of missile attacks, Kyiv Independent journalists reported. Brief power cuts and flickering lights were observed around 5:30 a.m.

The Kyiv City State Administration said one of the capital's water pumping stations had lost power, reducing water pressure in the Pechersk district. Klitschko reported that another person had been hospitalized in the Darnytskyi district and one person had been killed in the Holosiivskyi district following the later attacks.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service said a non-residential building, a house, and an unoccupied building had also sustained damage in Kyiv. Officials had not yet provided details about the reported strikes on the power plants or the extent of the damage. Ukraine's Air Force said it had intercepted four ballistic missiles and 115 Russian drones overnight.

Zelensky said the attack damaged 26 power facilities and four oil and gas sites. He described the strikes as an act of “ostentatious disrespect toward the United States” and said Russia did not regard the American president's statements as strong.

The strikes followed Trump's October 11 announcement that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure. Kyiv said it had refrained from striking Russian oil refineries since the announcement, while Moscow continued attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. Trump declined to blame Russia for breaking the purported truce when questioned on October 13.

Zelensky had said Ukraine would accept an energy ceasefire if Russia stopped attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Earlier, he stated that *“Ukraine has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the two days since the American president announced an energy ceasefire.”

Ukraine also said it had received no advance warning from its allies about Russian ballistic missile launches for a second consecutive night. Presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters that partners had not alerted Kyiv, while the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed it had received no information about missile launches from enemy territory on October 12 or 13.

“Our system detected these missiles almost as they were approaching Kyiv,” Zelensky said. He confirmed that a Kyiv thermal power plant and a residential building had been targeted.

A resident identified as Maksym told the Kyiv Independent that he and his partner had first taken cover in their building's corridor before moving to a shelter after a nearby explosion shattered windows. “Everything was very fast. We didn't even understand anything,” he said.

Russian missile threats also triggered air raid alerts in parts of the western Ukrainian regions of Lviv, Volyn, and Ivano-Frankivsk, far from the front lines. In the October 12 attack on Kyiv, at least 12 people, including a 17-year-old, were injured, according to the Kyiv City State Administration's Health Department.

Trump has pressed Kyiv to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, arguing that Ukrainian strikes have contributed to rising U.S. fuel prices. The claim has been disputed by experts. On Friday, the U.S. president announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel, easing previous U.S. sanctions. Asked whether Russia could use the proceeds to buy more bombs, Trump replied: “That’s a diesel deal, not for us. That’s being released into the world. That’s not being released to us.”

Trump also denied on Tuesday that Washington had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end, so we’re working with them and Russia on getting the war to end,” he told reporters.

The issue of intelligence cooperation has grown more contentious after reports that the Trump administration threatened senior Ukrainian military and government officials with suspending intelligence sharing and arms support unless Kyiv halted attacks on Russian refineries. A Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent: “They called all the top military officials with threats,” adding, “They're telling everyone that they're going to turn off both the intelligence sharing and PURL.”

Ukrainian and U.S. sources told the Kyiv Independent that Washington had not yet suspended intelligence support, although the lack of advance warning before the latest missile attacks has raised questions about the information being provided. Ukrainian commanders have said American intelligence is not necessary to identify targets for deep strikes on Russia, since refineries can be located on Google Maps, but is crucial for warning of ballistic missile launches and the takeoff of long-range bombers.

Zelensky called for Washington to respond to the attacks with stronger measures against Russia and additional Patriot missile interceptors. He urged the United States to impose sanctions under a bill introduced by the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

“The American President has all the effective and necessary tools to bring peace closer through strength, justice, and pressure on the aggressor,” Zelensky said. He also wrote: “We ask America and EVERYONE in the world who does not turn a blind eye to reality to respond and to respond forcefully.”

Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in Warsaw that cooperation with the United States was continuing and attributed the lack of warning about the Kyiv attack to a “special type” of Russian weaponry.

Separately, Ukrainian forces reported that SpaceX had restricted the use of its Starlink satellite communications terminals overnight, disrupting several military missions. The reported changes appeared to affect StarShield, the military-grade version of the service, by limiting connectivity when terminals were moving faster than approximately 160 kilometers per hour.

Serhii Beskrestnov, a presidential adviser on military technology known as “Flash,” said SpaceX had introduced the speed restrictions without notifying Ukrainian forces. “Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation and this led to the disruption of several missions,” he wrote on Telegram.

Beskrestnov later confirmed that the speed limit applied to StarShield terminals in motion, setting a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour, or 160 kilometers per hour. He said the change had disrupted several military missions and suggested it was linked to the current political situation, although he provided no evidence connecting the restrictions to U.S. pressure on Kyiv.

Ukrainian volunteer Serhii Sternenko, an activist and former adviser to ex-Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, also reported the restrictions. “SpaceX likely took these measures at the request of the Trump administration,” he said. The White House had not commented on the issue, and no independent evidence had established that it had ordered the change.

Ukraine relies on Starlink to operate its mid-strike drones in Russian-occupied territory. The campaign has helped Ukrainian forces disrupt Russian logistics and limit Moscow's ability to fight on the front lines.

The reports emerged amid worsening relations between Washington and Kyiv, following Trump's demands that Ukraine halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and his agreement with Moscow on Russian diesel exports. On Saturday, SpaceX owner Elon Musk responded to a White House video criticizing Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities by writing on X: “Zelenskyy has gone too far.” No connection has been established between Musk's comment, the diplomatic dispute, and the reported Starlink restrictions.

Russia has increased its attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities ahead of winter, causing power and water outages in Kyiv and other cities. Ukraine has appealed to its partners for additional U.S.-made Patriot missiles as it struggles to intercept incoming missiles and jet-powered drones. The Financial Times reported that the Trump administration had also threatened to suspend a procurement program through which European allies purchase advanced U.S. weapons for Ukraine, including Patriot systems.

On Monday, Russia also attacked Kharkiv, destroying a residential building. Zelensky shared footage from the scene and said four people had been killed and 41 injured. Rescuers searched through the night for people trapped under the rubble.

Zelensky warned on Tuesday evening that Russia was preparing further ballistic missile attacks, telling Ukrainians: “Please take care of yourselves tonight and tomorrow.”