Russia-Ukraine war: Russia launches drone, missile attacks overnight

Kremlin says Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system cannot be used in Russia

Firefighters work at the site of a fire after a drone strike on an oil depot in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. Photograph: EPA
Firefighters work at the site of a fire after a drone strike on an oil depot in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. Photograph: EPA

Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed 14 out of 17 drones that Russia launched overnight and one cruise missile, Ukraine’s air force said.

The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia also launched missiles from S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems, but it did not say how many or whether they hit any targets.

Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in Ukraine’s northeast, said late on Sunday that Russia attacked his region with missiles launched from the S-300 systems in Russia’s Belgorod region that borders Ukraine.

Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Sunday that Russia attacked the region’s city of Pavlohrad with drones. There were no casualties, but some parts of the city lost electricity.

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Elsewhere, the Kremlin has said Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system could not be used by Russia.

Ukraine, which has used Starlink for military communications throughout its war with Russia, said on Sunday that Russian troops were using Starlink in parts of Ukraine they control.

However, in a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This is not a certified system with us; accordingly, it cannot be officially supplied here and is not officially supplied. Accordingly, it cannot be used officially in any way.”

In a post on X on Sunday, Mr Musk said: “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.

“A number of false news reports claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia,” Mr Musk said in the post on X, which he also owns. “This is categorically false.” – Guardian