Zelenskyy says Ukraine had 'no warning' from its partners about Russian ballistic missile attack

Ukraine's Foreign Minister says delay in activating air alert due to weapons used by Russia

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv received no intelligence from its partners an incoming ballistic missile attack that struck the capital on Monday evening, with five missiles hitting what he described as civilian infrastructure.

When explosions began ringing out shortly after 10 p.m. local time, there was initially no air raid alert warning of a ballistic missile attack, meaning the blasts were the first warning residents received.

"Intelligence data the launch of ballistic missiles helps save lives and this is one of the most critical issues," Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post on Tuesday morning.

While he did not specifically accuse the United States of withholding intelligence, several media outlets, including the Financial Times and CNN , have reported that U.S. officials have threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine if Kyiv does not halt its deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

But Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who is attending the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, sought to ease concerns, saying Kyiv was still receiving intelligence from the U.S.

Sybiha said the delayed warning Monday’s attack was linked to Russia’s use of a "special type of weaponry," rather than any deliberate withholding of information.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, met with U.S. President Donald Trump during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 22. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)

Threats to cut off intelligence

Still, concerns are growing over how far Trump might go to pressure Ukraine into halting attacks on Russian energy facilities.

The United States has suspended intelligence-sharing with Ukraine before. In March 2025, Washington briefly halted the flow of intelligence in the days after a tense, televised meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.

Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy has often been tumultuous, with the U.S. president repeatedly accusing Ukraine of prolonging the war. Washington’s latest threats come as Trump faces growing political pressure at over surging fuel prices .

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Oleksandr Kraiev, an international relations expert at the Kyiv-based think-tank Ukrainian Prism, said the pressure from Washington currently amounts to threats. But he said Ukraine must be prepared for the possibility that Trump could follow through, given his unpredictability.

"When you are being played by a cynical leader, you have to become cynical yourself," Kraiev said in a phone interview with CBC News from Kyiv.

"We have to play the game with them … but we should always be relying on ourselves and on our European allies more than on our American allies."

Russia strikes Ukraine hours after Trump’s claim of an 'energy ceasefire'

Ukraine still dependent on U.S.

Despite what Kraiev described as Trump’s unpredictable approach, he said Kyiv cannot abandon diplomacy with Washington and simply wait for the "hot heads" to cool down.

Although European countries are increasing their supplies of weapons and ammunition, Ukraine remains heavily dependent on the United States, he said.

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"The Americans provide less than 15 per cent of all of our munitions and all of our armaments, but this 15 per cent cannot be duplicated anywhere else," Kraiev said, pointing to Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 air defence interceptor as an example.

Experts say European countries also cannot easily replicate the satellite imagery the U.S. provides to Ukraine, which helps Kyiv plan attacks and defend against Russian strikes.

Robert Tollast, a research fellow in land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, said U.S. spy satellites help Ukraine identify targets in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, particularly those more than 80 kilometres from the front line.

"If Ukraine loses access to this, it would complicate their targeting efforts," he said.

Black smoke rises from the area of the Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft's Moscow oil refinery on the southeastern outskirts of Moscow on June 18. (AFP/Getty Images)

Ceasefire? What ceasefire?

The ballistic missile attack on Kyiv came a day after Trump appeared to declare an energy ceasefire in a social media post, catching Kyiv and its European allies off guard.

Zelenskyy said he had not been aware of the agreement but indicated that Ukraine would support it if Moscow did the same.

If the announcement of an energy ceasefire came as a surprise to Ukraine, Trump’s declaration on Friday that the United States would begin importing Russian diesel was seen by some as a betrayal.

Less than a month earlier, Trump signed a sweeping sanctions package into law that would direct him to impose hefty tariffs on major importers of Russian oil and gas.

Now, lawmakers and experts are questioning whether Washington’s proposed deal with Russia is even legal.

In recent months, fuel prices, including for diesel, have surged because of the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz and Ukraine's attacks on Russia's refineries. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images)

The politics of fuel prices

Trump has blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries for driving up diesel prices, which have risen by 70 per cent since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February, disrupting shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Trump is deflecting blame for high energy prices and the price at the pump onto Zelenskyy," said Timothy Ash, an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House. "His war on Iran is the main reason why energy prices are higher."

In an interview with CBC News, Ash said he believes Trump's diesel deal with Russia reflects a desire to return to "business as normal" and pursue commercial deals with Moscow.

Trump and Zelenskyy potential for energy truce in face of new wave of strikes on infrastructure

Trump and Zelenskyy potential for energy truce in face of new wave of strikes on infrastructure

Zelenskyy says Russia violating Trump's 'energy ceasefire' as attacks on Ukraine continue

Zelenskyy says Russia violating Trump's 'energy ceasefire' as attacks on Ukraine continue

Energy analysts doubt the agreement will have much impact on U.S. prices, in part because Russia's ability to supply additional fuel is constrained by sustained Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure . Kyiv claims it has destroyed half of Russia's refining capacity.

Trump has said Russia will immediately export more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to the United States and global markets. That amounts to 2.25 million barrels — less than the nearly three million barrels of diesel the United States consumes each day, according to government data.

"It’s a perfectly Trumpian deal. It’s very short on details, and yet it’s announced and being sold very, very loudly," said Tamas Varga, a London-based analyst with PVM Oil Associates.

"It looks like the whole deal is not going to have a significant impact on mitigating the rise in retail diesel prices in the U.S."

The diesel agreement is another example of Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy, further eroding what trust Ukrainians may still have in Washington’s ability to steer negotiations and help secure a workable peace.

Trump’s social media post the so-called energy ceasefire marked the second time in less than a month that he had claimed Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure. Neither announcement appeared to have resulted in a sustained halt to the attacks.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine has not struck any Russian energy facilities since Trump’s latest announcement.

The Kremlin says contacts are continuing over the proposed energy ceasefire. In a summary of overnight strikes on Ukraine on Tuesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry did not mention any attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities.

Foreign Correspondent

Briar Stewart is a CBC correspondent, based in London. During her nearly two decades with CBC, she has reported across Canada and internationally. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X @briarstewart.

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