Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed deep disappointment with the US shift, telling journalist Piers Morgan: "It is a pity we are losing … a strong partner." He added: "It's painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side. This is not [the] right side of history."
Trump on October 9 invited Russia to sell 1.8 million tonnes of diesel to the global market by the end of the year, effectively reversing the Lindsey Graham Act, which he had signed into law days earlier. That law had given him the ability to punish countries buying Russian oil with secondary sanctions.
Ukraine's partners did not share intelligence that five ballistic missiles were headed towards Kyiv on October 13, Zelenskyy said, without naming the US. Those missiles struck Kyiv's Thermal Power Plant number 4, one of the capital's biggest, resulting in power outages.
Russia then pounded Ukraine's electricity infrastructure on October 14. Over the following 24 hours, Russia launched 850 drones and 39 missiles, striking 30 energy targets across 19 regions of Ukraine, despite Trump's declared energy ceasefire.
"This level of blatant disregard for the United States by Russia has not been seen before," Zelenskyy said.
SpaceX's Starshield, the military element of the Starlink satellite network, capped Ukraine's use of its navigation services at 160 km/h (100 mph). This meant Ukraine lost sight of its interceptors above that speed, making it difficult or impossible to stop Russian jet-powered Geran-4 drones, which fly at speeds exceeding 500 km/h (310 mph). Six in 10 Russian drones are now jet-powered, Zelenskyy said.
SpaceX owner Elon Musk wrote: "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS."
Sources at Ukraine's Ministry of Defence said Starshield services had begun to return to normal on October 15.