Ukraine Again Got No Partner Warning on Russian Ballistic Missiles
Ukraine received no warning from international partners before the first of two Russian ballistic missile waves overnight into October 19, Air Force spokesman Colonel Yurii Ihnat said. Information from partners did arrive before the second wave, he added.
“There were two ballistic strikes, one at 23:00, the other at 3:00,” Ihnat said on the national telethon, comparing the situation to an earlier massive attack with 39 missiles, when partner information also failed to arrive the first time but came the second. He said Ukraine has its own sources and tracks the radar picture where possible, and the Air Force warned of the ballistic threat on its official Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp channels about a minute before missiles appeared in the sky.
Minutes to react
Ihnat stressed how little time there is when ballistic missiles are used: flight time from Russia's border regions is a matter of minutes, and even the siren activation algorithm lags behind impacts. Experts are working with partners to find out why the information did not arrive, since it is not the first time. He did not rule out that the enemy would repeat such strikes.
Rubio on “software problems”
Asked by a Radio Liberty correspondent, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he did not know exactly what happened overnight and could not comment, but recalled that earlier there were “software problems.” “I know that a few nights ago there was a software problem with their early warning system,” he said.
On the safety of US diplomats, Rubio said Washington holds weekly meetings with its missions in conflict zones, and that the US has not changed its position or presence in Kyiv, though it is always concerned about security.
Background
The day before, Zelensky said the US had resumed intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Per DW, Washington denies it had halted the data, and there is also a dispute over Starlink. The Washington Post reported that the US threatened to stop sharing intelligence if Ukraine struck more Russian energy sites, and Zelensky confirmed on October 14 that Ukraine had received such warnings, which had not been carried out. Read more in World.