By Olena Harmash
KYIV, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners of a Russian ballistic missile strike overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, after Moscow launched one of its broadest air assaults in months, cutting 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 in attacks stretching 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, Zelenskiy said.
The strikes killed a woman in Kyiv and two more people in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said.
Zelenskiy’s complaint about intelligence sharing comes amid growing friction between Zelenskiy and President Donald Trump’s administration over US support for Ukraine and Washington’s approach to Russia.
“Another Russian ballistic missile attack came in several waves overnight, and once again, there was no early warning from our partners,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.
“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.”
Throughout the nearly five-year war, Ukraine has relied on US intelligence to detect Russian ballistic missile launches and provide early warning of incoming strikes.
Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, said Kyiv received no warning ahead of the first ballistic missile strike overnight but did receive information 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,” Ihnat told Ukrainian television.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that the United States had paused some intelligence sharing with Ukraine, contradicting Zelenskiy, who has said the United States briefly curtailed such cooperation.
ROLLING BLACKOUTS
Ukrainian air defences downed 247 targets – four cruise missiles and 243 drones, the air force said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces carried out a “massive strike” using precision weapons and attack drones against Ukrainian defence industry facilities, drone and cruise missile storage sites, and a data centre.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said the energy sector was the main target of the attacks, with damage reported across the country. Ukraine’s energy ministry said rolling blackouts were introduced for households and businesses as crews worked to restore supplies.
Railway stations, pharmaceutical warehouses, commercial properties and residential buildings were also damaged, Koretskyi said.
In Kyiv a subway station on the left bank of the capital was hit, and a 25-storey residential building was damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
(Additional reporting by Lina Golovnya and Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Ros Russell)
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