Kyiv was once again under attack by ballistic missiles early on Saturday as Donald Trump retreated further from a promise to let Ukraine manufacture its own Patriot air defence interceptors. At least three people were killed in the Russian attack and five residents wounded, said the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Several people were also reportedly trapped in a partially collapsed building. More than a dozen explosions reverberated through the city, and residents were warned to stay in shelters.
The attack comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Trump and other US officials to help Ukraine gain permission from tech titan Elon Musk to use satellite internet service Starlink for guiding strikes inside Russia. Zelenskyy made the request directly to Trump during an Oval Office meeting this week, according to one person familiar with the matter. He also reportedly told lawmakers later on Capitol Hill that he wanted Starlink’s help. Trump did not commit to Zelenskyy’s request. Musk allows Starlink use within Ukraine, including Russian-occupied areas, but restricts it inside Russia.
During a cabinet meeting at Camp David, Trump told reporters that handing over the underlying Patriot technology was “a hard thing” to do. Ukraine’s Zelensky had met Trump earlier this week and said Trump had agreed to license the production of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. Asked whether he was ready to grant Kyiv a licence to build Patriots domestically – something he had suggested at a Nato summit in Turkey just this month – Trump said: “We have not agreed to that. We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology.” Giving away the weapons carried its own risks, he added: “People that you give that technology [to], they can some day turn on you. You know that is possible.”
