Ukraine accuses U.S. of aiding Russia as missiles hit Kyiv; Zelenskyy urges Musk to restore Starlink

Russian missiles hit Kyiv late in the evening, damaging apartment buildings and other targets and prompting public accusations from Kyiv that Washington has hampered Ukraine's ability to defend itself.

The Japan Times reported that Ukrainian officials accused the United States of failing to warn Kyiv about incoming strikes and of constraining Kyiv's military response, an allegation echoed in headlines from other outlets that day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ending a three-day pause on strikes and ordered attacks on Russian oil refineries to resume, the Japan Times wrote.

The article said Zelenskyy had reacted after a U.S. call for an "energy ceasefire" by President Donald Trump the previous week, and presented Kyiv's decision to resume targeting refineries as a direct policy shift.

The Japan Times also reported that Zelenskyy publicly urged billionaire Elon Musk to restore Starlink internet service, which Kyiv said it needs to help defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. The paper linked the loss or restriction of communications capacity and limits on U.S. intelligence assistance to the difficulties Kyiv faced during the recent strikes.

The article described ongoing assaults by Moscow on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian sites over the prior days, saying those attacks had produced a mounting death toll. It included a scene of local recovery efforts, noting a municipal employee cutting branches in front of an apartment building damaged by a missile strike in Kyiv.

Headlines from other outlets cited alongside the Japan Times piece repeated Kyiv's accusation that U.S. actions or omissions helped Russia by restricting warnings and Starlink service, but the Japan Times provided the detailed account linking Washington's "energy ceasefire" call to Kyiv's decision to resume strikes on refineries.

The reporting distinguishes between Kyiv's public charges about U.S. conduct and the operational steps Ukraine said it would take in response.

The Japan Times account focuses on the immediate operational and political consequences: missile damage in Kyiv, Kyiv's accusation that U.S. limits impeded its defence, Zelenskyy's order to restart strikes on refineries, and his appeal to restore Starlink service.

The article does not provide independent verification of Kyiv's allegation about U.S. warnings or of specific casualty totals from the strikes.