Got no warning: Zelenskyy slams allies after Russia strikes energy facilities

The strikes came amid tensions over Washington's outreach to Moscow and hours before the Kremlin said a final settlement of the war was unlikely without Kyiv's involvement.

In Short

• Russian strikes damage over 10 energy facilities across Ukraine
• Three people die as Russian missile attacks hit Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih
• Ukrainian air defences intercept over 200 attack drones

Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners before the first wave of an overnight Russian ballistic missile attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday, after one of Moscow’s broadest air assaults in months cut power to more than half a million households.

Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region and more than 200 drones across the country. A woman was killed in Kyiv and two people died in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, officials told Reuters.

“Another Russian ballistic missile attack came in several waves overnight, and once again, there was no early warning from our partners,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

The strikes came amid tensions over Washington’s outreach to Moscow and hours before the Kremlin said a final settlement of the war was unlikely without Kyiv’s involvement.

RUSSIA TARGETS ENERGY INFRA

The attacks stretched from Kharkiv and Dnipro in the east to Odesa in the south and Volyn and Rivne in the west. More than 10 energy facilities were damaged, Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said energy infrastructure was the main target. The energy ministry introduced rolling blackouts for households and businesses while crews worked to restore supplies.

Railway stations, pharmaceutical warehouses, commercial properties and residential buildings were also damaged, Koretskyi said. In Kyiv, a subway station was hit and a 25-storey residential building was damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Ukrainian air defences downed four cruise missiles and 243 drones, the air force said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it carried out a “massive strike” against Ukrainian defence industry facilities, drone and cruise missile storage sites, and a data centre.

QUESTIONS OVER EARLY WARNING

Ukraine has relied on US intelligence to detect Russian ballistic missile launches and warn of incoming strikes.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Kyiv received no warning before the first ballistic missile attack overnight, but information arrived ahead of a second attack.

“For some reason, no information was received the first time, a matter our experts are investigating together with our partners, as this is not the first time such a situation has occurred,” he told Ukrainian television.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that Washington had paused some intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Zelenskyy has said the US briefly curtailed such cooperation.

US MEDIATION AND RUSSIA DEAL

Zelenskyy’s criticism extended to Washington’s efforts to keep Moscow at the negotiating table through a diesel import agreement and sanctions waivers.

“When deliveries of missiles for Ukraine's air defence are blocked while Russia is granted relief or delays in sanctions, this is, unfortunately, a denial of reality on the part of our partners,” he said.

US President Donald Trump has said the deal and sanctions relief should keep the Kremlin engaged in peace talks. But the moves have added to tensions with Kyiv, which has criticised the concessions to Moscow.

Speaking in Uzbekistan on Monday, Rubio said Ukraine and Russia should focus on ending the war. Asked about a possible meeting between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said it had been discussed but he did not know whether it had been finalised.

“The president has been clear. He'd like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end,” he said.

Rubio warned that continued fighting risked drawing another country into the conflict, citing a failed sabotage operation or drones diverted across borders by electronic warfare as possible triggers.

- Ends
(With inputs from Reuters)