White House Tries to Sabotage Ukraine’s Drone Systems as Zelenskyy Resumes Attacks on Russia
After Ukraine agreed to pause strikes on Russian oil refineries at the Trump administration’s request, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday declared the ceasefire over in the wake of Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. Ukrainian drone strikes had attacked a Russian state-owned oil refining facility overnight Wednesday “in retaliation for Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.” Zelenskyy’s defiance of Trump comes amid accusations that “military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.”
On Wednesday, Elon Musk responded that “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.” On Thursday, Reuters confirmed that “the order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House.” According to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “leaders at the Defense Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.” Per Reuters, a senior US official said, “No such request was ever made by the president.” According to NPR, by Thursday Ukraine’s access to Starshield had been restored to normal.
Trump’s New Press Secretary Fired After Five Days
The New York Times is reporting that Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, was fired on Friday after only five days on the job.
