2,300 Russian attack drones in one week, according to Zelensky
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Le Monde and Al Jazeera
According to Le Monde, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses speed restrictions imposed on Starshield terminals of facilitating Russian attacks. Russia deployed more than 2,300 offensive drones, 1,590 air-dropped bombs and 15 missiles last week. Zelensky calls on Washington and SpaceX to restore access to the military satellite system.
Starlink, owned by SpaceX, denies having throttled internet speeds. However, Elon Musk had said last month that the US government controls Starshield. Zelensky says these restrictions have been in place for five days and that Starlink cites technical problems, an explanation Kyiv does not believe. It is the second such cut-off in a few weeks.
On the ground, a Russian drone attack killed two people on Saturday in the northern region of Koriukivka, targeting what Ukrainian authorities describe as critical infrastructure. On Sunday, an energy facility in Odesa was hit, leaving 41,000 households without power, according to energy supplier DTEK. Ukraine’s army says it shot down 106 of the 132 Russian drones launched overnight.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence says it struck Ukrainian military airfields and ammunition depots. In Taganrog, in the Russian region, an electrical engineer was killed and four people were injured after Ukrainian drone attacks; six injured are reported in Nizhnekamsk after a drone attack.
US negotiators have visited both countries in recent days to try to secure a ceasefire, despite tensions between Washington and Kyiv linked to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. Zelensky says Washington has raised the possibility of Ukrainian forces still present in the Donbas withdrawing in exchange for NATO membership. Vladimir Putin is due to meet Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Shenzhen this week, with Ukraine not on the agenda; analysts compare the meeting to the 1945 Yalta Conference. On Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha judged that Putin dreamed of a new Yalta and that a world war would first have to be won to reshape the European security order.
