Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday warned that restrictions on the country's Starshield satellite communication system were affecting its ability to intercept Russian drones and could weaken defences around critical energy infrastructure ahead of winter.
Ukraine's interceptor drones continue to lose contact with their operators when flying at speeds above 161 kph (100 mph) along the front line and over Russian-occupied territory, leaving them unable to intercept Russian Shahed drones, Zelenskyy said.
Starshield, operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, is used by Ukraine's military for satellite communications.
"We are counting on these restrictions to be lifted," Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
"The protection of lives and Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter depends on this. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and the President's Office have been instructed to work closely with the American side and SpaceX. It is important to be on the right side of history. We need to help Ukraine," he added.
Zelenskyy had questioned on Saturday whether the problem was technical, saying the restrictions appeared to have been imposed by SpaceX despite earlier assurances from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Starshield was more under the control of the US government.
Russian strike damages energy infrastructure in Odesa
Meanwhile, a Russian strike on Chornomorsk, a port city in Ukraine's Odesa region, injured six people and damaged energy infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Sunday.
The explosion and falling debris also damaged a gas pipeline and nearby residential buildings, while two parked cars caught fire.
The strike hit a facility operated by DTEK Odesa Electric Networks, temporarily leaving around 41,000 customers without electricity, Kiper said.
Overnight Russian airstrikes on Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine, injured another six people, including a 2-year-old boy, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said on Sunday.
Russia launched more than 2,300 drones, 1,590 guided aerial bombs and 15 missiles of various types against Ukraine over the past week, Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian drone strikes leave one dead in Russia
Ukrainian drone strikes damaged two electrical substations in Russia's Rostov region, killing a chief engineer, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said on Sunday.
Four people were injured when drone debris fell on their cars, while a fifth person was wounded after debris struck a production facility in the village of Troitskoye, Slyusar said.
Ukrainian forces also targeted Russia's Tatarstan region, where a drone attack damaged an industrial zone in Nizhnekamsk, the region's third-largest city, according to local officials.
Mayor Radmir Belyaev described the incident as a "large-scale and prolonged attack".
Six people were injured, while heating and hot water supplies were disrupted in parts of the city, he said.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had shot down 533 Ukrainian drones overnight across 13 Russian regions, the annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black and Azov seas.
