Zelensky: Russia unleashes 850 Shahed drones as Ukraine faces restrictions on its defenses

The Ukrainian President wrote this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

“Emergency services are still providing assistance in dozens of our cities and communities. Repair crews and rescuers are working to deal with the aftermath of Russian attacks. For practically all of yesterday and throughout last night, a massive Shahed attack was underway. The drones kept coming in waves, and there was not a single hour when our skies were clear of them. From midnight yesterday through 9:00 today, there had already been more than 850 Shaheds – and this comes precisely at a time when the speed of our defensive capabilities is being artificially restricted. We managed to shoot down some of the Shaheds. But unfortunately, there were also dozens of hits,” Zelensky stressed.

He noted that Kirovohrad region had suffered one of the largest attacks. Strikes were also reported in Kyiv and the surrounding region, the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Rivne, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, as well as the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Poltava and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. Three people were killed in Kropyvnytskyi and another three in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

“It is obvious that Russia deliberately chose to escalate its attacks after receiving sanctions relief and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine. Russia exploits every such opportunity and must be held accountable for what it does. Strong decisions are needed to end this war. Ukraine needs steady support, above all in defending our skies. We need HONESTY from our partners about this war: It is important that everyone in America stand not with the aggressor, but with our efforts to protect lives, end this war, and guarantee security,” the President said.

As reported by Ukrinform, the previous day, Serhii Beskrestnov, known as Flash, a technology adviser to the President of Ukraine, said that SpaceX had introduced restrictions overnight on the operating speed of Starlink terminals while in motion, without giving Ukraine’s Defense Forces advance notice.

The Ministry of Defense reported that, as of Wednesday evening, SpaceX was maintaining a speed limit of 161 km/h for Starshield terminals (the “military package”) while in motion. During the day, the actual restrictions were considerably stricter.

The Ministry of Defense stressed that the Starlink restrictions detected overnight had complicated the operation of the Defense Forces’ unmanned systems, logistics and middle-strike capabilities.