Zelensky on elections, the US and Starlink

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he will take part in the presidential election if it can be held before the war ends, a statement that put the question of wartime voting back at the centre of the day. In the same remarks he warned that Ukraine could not hold out against Russia without American support, and certainly not if Washington sided with Moscow. That warning landed against a tense backdrop over Starlink. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Zelensky's accusations that the US government had restricted Starlink and Starshield baseless and said the Ukrainian leader should be very careful with such claims. Meanwhile Lithuania is investigating an attempted arson at a Starlink station, which its authorities describe as sabotage linked to Russia and aimed at weakening Ukraine's defence. On the ground, the strikes continued. After air attacks on Kherson's Korabelnyi district the toll rose to two dead and 35 injured, among them children and medics. Zelensky also denied Russian claims about the front, saying Dobropillia and other towns remain under Ukrainian control and that Russian troops are 20 km from Zaporizhzhia, not 5 km.