Russia launches airstrikes across Ukraine after report claims call to throttle Starshield came directly from White House

Russia fired airstrikes in about a third of Ukraine’s regions on Friday, as the two countries continue to exchange attacks on energy infrastructure following a week of tensions over the slowdown of Ukraine’s Starshield systems and President Donald Trump‘s declared energy ceasefire.Following Trump’s announcement of an energy infrastructure ceasefire on Sunday, both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly said the other side violated the fragile truce. Ukrainian defense forces fired off attacks on Russian oil refineries on Thursday, hitting Rosneft’s refinery in the city of Ryazan, while Ukrainian officials say Russia returned fire on Friday, hitting energy infrastructure and causing power outages across Ukraine.“Two people killed and 17 injured in Kharkiv this morning, after a night of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. Russia also hit a shopping mall in Rivne and energy facilities in four regions,” Ukraine’s defense ministry said in a statement on X. At least 15 people were wounded in the Friday airstrikes on nine of Ukraine’s 27 regions, according to the Associated Press.The latest exchange of strikes comes after a tense week for Zelensky, who has been at odds with Trump over his deal with Russia on diesel fuel and over temporary speed limits placed on Ukraine’s Starshield terminals without warning. The country’s Starshield system is a militarized version of SpaceX’s satellite network Starlink, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Department of War.The calls for speed limits on Ukraine’s systems came from within the White House, according to a report from Reuters. A U.S. official told the Washington Examiner that “no such request was ever made by the President.”The White House has not responded to an inquiry from the Washington Examiner over whether the call was made by a different official within the White House.The Ukrainian government said the speed limits imposed on systems on Wednesday could have disrupted Ukraine’s defense against Russian airstrikes and also forced the cancellation of certain planned Ukrainian drone operations on Russia. After several hours of Starshield systems being limited to speeds below 100 mph, the systems were eventually brought back to normal speeds.ZELENSKY LAMENTS UKRAINE IS ‘LOSING AMERICA’ AS CONGRESS CRIES FOUL OVER INTEL AND STARLINK REPORTSWhen the speeds were restored, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for restoring them. But Musk responded to Fedorov, saying his company is not responsible for any speed restrictions on Starshield defense communications systems and putting the blame on the Trump administration.“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk wrote on X.