SpaceX's Starlink network throttled connectivity to Ukrainian forces without advance notice, according to Ukrainian officials, interrupting drone operations at a time when attacks on power infrastructure had cut electricity to hundreds of thousands of residents.

Beskrestnov, a presidential adviser, wrote on Telegram that Starlink links aboard fast-moving terminals went dark without any warning to the armed forces, and that the absence of advance notice from SpaceX played a part in the breakdown of several drone missions. Connectivity losses of 10 to 20 seconds were recorded by the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps — operating in the country's south-eastern zone — whenever drone units flew at speeds between 110 and 120 kmph, with the formation noting in a published statement that although the aircraft continued on their flight paths, those brief gaps in signal made piloting them considerably harder.

According to an insider at Ukraine's Defence Ministry, the measures have added notable strain to supply chains and curtailed certain drone activities. Poland, which funds Ukraine's Starlink access, voiced objections over what appeared to be a service interruption.

Sikorski, serving as Poland's foreign minister, put a public question to Musk on X — asking whether commercial decisions at his companies were being shaped by political considerations — and added that European customers of those products were watching closely. The post went unanswered by Musk, and SpaceX had not provided a response to a comment request submitted outside US business hours. Musk's earlier remark describing Sikorski in disparaging terms forms part of a broader backdrop against which the reported access limits have fed Ukrainian anxieties that allied governments may dial back arms deliveries as a way of nudging Kyiv toward territorial compromises with Moscow.

Projectiles targeting power infrastructure hit sites in and around both Kyiv and Kharkiv — the country's second-largest urban centre — across an extended period of aerial bombardment. Roughly 600,000 homes and businesses lost power, according to available reports. Zelenskyy put the tally of damaged power stations at more than 30, while a statement from Russia's Defence Ministry listed four electricity-generating facilities in and around Kyiv and two in Kharkiv among the targets its forces had hit.

During the night, emergency personnel pulled survivors from the rubble of a stricken apartment block while fire crews worked to bring a substantial blaze under control. Two people lost their lives and 21 others sustained injuries at the location, according to authorities.

Of the 39 missiles fired in the latest wave, officials reported that only four were brought down, a figure that points to mounting pressure on air-defence capacity tied to ongoing equipment shortfalls.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy stated that Russia had opted to set aside the energy ceasefire that Trump put forward, and that the scale of the attack was deliberate — intended to convey a message that, in his view, represented an unprecedented level of disregard toward the United States. He further noted that Ukraine had observed the proposed truce by keeping its forces away from Russian refineries from the moment Trump made the announcement. Zelenskyy described the strikes as a deliberate rebuke aimed at Trump, pointing out that the ceasefire announcement covering energy infrastructure had originated with the US president himself.

Power infrastructure in Ukraine continued to face bombardment even as neither side put forward any formal statement confirming the reported ceasefire. Talks on a ceasefire covering energy infrastructure were reported to be ongoing, according to a statement from the Kremlin on Tuesday.

On consecutive days, Kyiv's representatives reported receiving no advance notice from Western partners before the Russian attacks came. On Tuesday, Trump stated that intelligence-sharing with Kyiv remained ongoing on the part of the United States.

Multiple news outlets, drawing on information from anonymous sources, have reported that intelligence sharing tied to advance notice of Russian missile launches could be withheld from Ukraine unless the country halts its targeting of oil refinery infrastructure inside Russia. Kyiv's restraint in responding to strikes on its energy grid, Zelenskyy noted, was contingent on those attacks coming to a halt.

These shifts arrive against a backdrop of strained ties between Kyiv and Washington, following a decision by Trump last week to lift sanctions on Russian diesel and his public remarks directed at Zelenskyy. Trump pressed Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, while also floating the notion that Zelenskyy should be replaced at the helm of the country — moves he framed as part of an effort to bring down fuel prices.

Satellite internet access for users in Ukraine arrived through Starlink not long after armed hostilities escalated in early 2022, with the network going on to underpin much of the country's communications infrastructure throughout the conflict. Jamming resistance has proven central to the technology's battlefield utility, enabling coordination of operations, precise guidance of long-range attack drones, and the running of unmanned supply runs to troops at the front.

Drone operations over Ukrainian-held ground — and over areas where opposing forces have established a presence — rely on Starlink for coordination, even though the network's reach does not extend into Russian territory and the strikes targeting oil infrastructure there draw on different communication channels altogether. Prolonged interference of that kind would put battlefield communications, drone operations, and frontline supply chains at risk.

Musk's relationship with Trump adds another layer of complexity to the pressures already bearing down on Ukraine — a country absorbing continued Russian strikes, uncertainty over whether Western intelligence cooperation will hold, and demands from Washington that it accept limits on how it conducts battlefield operations.