By Olena Harmash
KYIV, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners of a Russian ballistic missile strike overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday, adding that some vital deliveries from the United States were being delayed.
Moscow launched one of its broadest air assaults in months overnight, cutting power to more than half a million households and damaging energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding
region and more than 200 drones in attacks stretching from Kharkiv and Dnipro in the east to Odesa in the south and Volyn and Rivne in the west.
The strikes killed two people in Kyiv and the nearby region and two more people in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said.
Tensions are running high between Zelenskiy and President Donald Trump's administration over US support for Ukraine and Washington's approach to Russia.
"Another Russian ballistic missile attack came in several waves overnight, and once again, there was no early warning from our partners," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.
"When deliveries of missiles for Ukraine's air defence are blocked while Russia is granted relief or delays in sanctions, this is, unfortunately, a denial of reality on the part of our partners."
Zelenskiy said that the United States had slowed some vital supplies for Ukraine, adding that the delays were at the US Defense Department level. He provided no other details. Kyiv has previously said it has struggled to get interceptors critical to repelling Russian missile attacks.
For several months, Ukraine has suffered from critical shortages of US-made Patriot missiles.
Zelenskiy said that some political agreements on air defence were not implemented at a working level.
Throughout the nearly five-year war, Ukraine has relied on US intelligence to detect Russian ballistic missile launches and provide early warning of incoming strikes.
Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, said Kyiv received no warning ahead of the first ballistic missile strike overnight but did receive information ahead of a second attack.
"For some reason, no information was received the first time, a matter our experts are investigating together with our partners, as this is not the first time such a situation has occurred," Ihnat told Ukrainian television.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that the United States had paused some intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
ROLLING BLACKOUTS
Ukrainian air defences downed 247 targets - four cruise missiles and 243 drones, the air force said.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces carried out a "massive strike" using precision weapons and attack drones against Ukrainian defence industry facilities, drone and cruise missile storage sites, and a data centre.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said the energy sector was the main target of the attacks, with damage reported across the country. Ukraine's energy ministry said rolling blackouts were introduced for households and businesses as crews worked to restore supplies.
Koretskyi said Russia has hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure more than 2,000 times since mid-July, intensifying its attacks from previous years of the war.
Railway and metro stations, pharmaceutical warehouses, commercial properties and residential buildings were also damaged, Koretskyi said. Ukrainian businesses have already lost $7.7 billion due to wartime damage so far this year, he said.
"The aim is obvious — to wear people down," Koretskyi said.
(Additional reporting by Lina Golovnya and Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Ros Russell and Deepa Babington)
