KYIV: Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners of a Russian ballistic missile strike, President Volodymyr Zelensky 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 on Sunday night, 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.

Tensions are running high between Zelensky 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,” Zelensky 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.”

Zelensky said that the United States had slowed some vital supplies for Ukraine, adding that the delays were at the US Defence Department level.

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.

Zelensky 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.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2026