Zelenskyy warns Starshield restrictions could weaken Ukraine's energy defences ahead of winter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday warned that restrictions on the country's Starshield satellite communications system are hampering efforts to intercept Russian drones and could weaken defences around energy infrastructure ahead of winter.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian interceptor drones continued to lose contact with their operators when flying at speeds above 161 kmph along the front line and over Russian-occupied territories. The communication failures were preventing them from pursuing Russian Shahed drones, he said.

Starshield, operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, is used by Ukraine for military communications. Zelenskyy urged the lifting of the restrictions, saying the protection of lives and energy infrastructure ahead of winter depended on it.

“The protection of lives and Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter depends on this,” he wrote on social media, adding that Ukraine's foreign ministry, defence ministry and presidential office had been instructed to work closely with the US government and SpaceX.

Zelenskyy had questioned the previous day whether the problem was technical, suggesting that the restrictions appeared to have been imposed by SpaceX. This came despite earlier assurances from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Starshield was more directly controlled by the US government.

Russian strikes damage Ukrainian energy infrastructure

Meanwhile, a Russian strike on the port city of Chornomorsk in Ukraine's Odesa region injured six people and damaged energy infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Sunday.

The attack damaged a gas pipeline and nearby residential buildings, while two parked cars caught fire. A facility operated by DTEK Odesa Electric Networks was also hit, temporarily leaving around 41,000 customers without electricity.

Overnight Russian airstrikes on Zaporizhzhia injured another six people, including a two-year-old boy, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.

Zelenskyy said Russia had launched more than 2,300 drones, 1,590 guided aerial bombs and 15 missiles of various types against Ukraine over the past week.

Ukrainian drone attacks hit Russian regions

In Russia, Ukrainian drone strikes damaged two electrical substations in the Rostov region, killing a chief engineer, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said.

Four people were injured when drone debris fell on their cars, while another person was wounded in an incident involving a production facility in the village of Troitskoye.

Ukrainian forces also targeted the Tatarstan region. Radmir Belyaev, mayor of Nizhnekamsk, said a large-scale and prolonged attack had damaged the city's industrial zone. Six people were injured, while heating and hot water supplies were disrupted in parts of the city.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had shot down 533 Ukrainian drones overnight across 13 Russian regions, Crimea and the Black and Azov seas.