On the night from Tuesday, October 13 into Wednesday, October 14, Russian strikes targeted the Ukrainian energy grid, including all three of Kyiv’s thermal power plants (Le Monde, Kyiv Post). At least six deaths are recorded (France 24, CBS News; seven according to franceinfo) and Volodymyr Zelensky speaks of 600,000 people without electricity. Russia struck even though Donald Trump had called for an energy truce; the Kyiv Post, alone, reports that the Kremlin considers that truce never defined. On Wednesday, a drone strike killed at least six people in Lutsk (Le Figaro, BFMTV), and three people died the following night in the Kirovohrad oblast (Le Monde). Kyiv says it received no warning for the second night in a row and blames the United States for not sharing its intelligence (RFI, franceinfo); CBS News writes that they may have withheld it. Ukraine also accuses SpaceX of throttling Starlink and Starshield, which disrupts its drones (Reuters, DW, PBS); Elon Musk passes the decision on to the American government. Volodymyr Zelensky, in London, says he feels “betrayed” by Donald Trump’s agreement on Russian diesel while counting on the American partnership (BFMTV, franceinfo, Le Monde).
Ukraine’s air defense and drones rely on information and networks supplied by American players. If this support shrinks, Europe will have to fill the gap, and the energy war as winter approaches weighs directly on the civilian population. The disagreement between Washington and Kyiv, just as the agreement on Russian diesel takes shape, also exposes Western divisions.
For a French reader, the stakes are Europe’s security, which would have to shoulder a heavier share of the support, and the price of energy, sensitive to the Russian diesel file. Our sources give no direct, immediate consequence for the bill: the effect would run through oil and through European choices on military aid.
For Kyiv and its European backers, depriving Ukraine of warnings and military tools while Russia strikes its power grid amounts to weakening it, and the diesel agreement rewards Moscow. Giorgia Meloni sees in it a “very risky choice” (Reuters).
For the Trump administration, according to Reuters, the diesel agreement is meant to bring Moscow back to the negotiating table. On Starlink, Elon Musk passes the decision on to the American government without giving the reasons.
Three questions remain open: who decided to throttle Starshield and why, what Washington has actually stopped passing on, and whether the diesel contracts will be signed as the Kremlin announces. Until Washington has answered in detail, treat Kyiv’s claims as accusations, and follow what can be verified: the power outages, the number of nights without warning, the contract signings.
Le Monde · Le Figaro · France 24 · RFI · franceinfo · BFMTV · 20 Minutes · Ouest-France · Reuters · CBS News · DW · PBS · BBC · The Hill · Kyiv Post · Japan Times · Financial Times (Oct. 14-15)
Strikes hit all three Kyiv power plants without warning: Zelensky accuses Washington and says he feels “betrayed”
Russia targeted Ukrainian energy despite Donald Trump’s call for a truce, and Kyiv accuses the United States of no longer warning it of launches or letting it use Starlink as before. The reasons for these restrictions are not established.
On the night from Tuesday, October 13 into Wednesday, October 14, Russia again struck Ukraine, first its energy grid. A few days after Donald Trump’s call for an energy truce, all three of Kyiv’s thermal power plants were targeted, according to Le Monde; the Kyiv Post speaks of ballistic missiles and other sites hit in neighboring regions. At least six people died (France 24, CBS News; franceinfo counts seven), and Volodymyr Zelensky says 600,000 people were left without power. He denounced “a show of contempt by Russia toward America” (Le Monde). Only the Kyiv Post reports the Kremlin’s response: that the truce was never precisely defined. On Wednesday, a drone strike killed at least six people and wounded twelve in Lutsk, in the west of the country, a region rarely targeted (Le Figaro, BFMTV). In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, three people died in the Kirovohrad oblast, according to the local military administration cited by Le Monde.
For the second night in a row, the population was not warned in advance (RFI, Reuters). Kyiv blames its American allies, who reportedly did not pass on their intelligence about the launches (RFI, franceinfo); CBS News writes that the Trump administration “may have” withheld these warnings. Our sources report no American reaction. At the same time, Ukraine accuses SpaceX of throttling the military use of Starlink and Starshield, its military version, which disrupts its drones (Reuters, DW, PBS). Ukrainian sources cited by BFMTV say the connection cuts out above 160 km/h, which penalizes fast drones. Elon Musk passes the decision on to the American government (20 Minutes, Ouest-France, BBC, The Hill); Kyiv says it suffered these limits without notice. The Japan Times, the only one to report it, cites a senior Ukrainian official saying Washington had threatened to stop this intelligence.
On Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky was in London, received at Downing Street by Prime Minister Andy Burnham (RFI, BFMTV). In an interview with Piers Morgan, excerpts of which circulated that same evening, he says he feels “betrayed” by Donald Trump’s recent announcements, notably the agreement on Russian diesel, and finds it “painful” to see the American president “choose a side, not ours” (BFMTV, franceinfo, Reuters). He nonetheless says he is “counting on the partnership” with the United States (BFMTV, Le Figaro). The Kremlin claims the delivery contracts will be signed “in the very next few days” (Le Figaro, BFMTV); the head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, sees in it a “very risky choice” (Reuters). The Financial Times, picked up by Reuters, adds that American negotiators raised in Miami the unfreezing of some of the Russian assets to restart talks, which European officials refused.