Ukraine Seeks Starlink Drone Approvals Amid Intensified Russian Air Strikes and Domestic Fuel Shortages

Ukrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers, according to a report.

The war-hit nation will need approval from Starlink chief Elon Musk, the FT reported. The world's richest man has offered to help Ukraine but also made comments critical of the country.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump and other American officials to facilitate Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications system for guiding strikes within Russian territory.

Kyiv is looking for alternative strategies to reduce its reliance on US Patriot air defence systems, crucial for countering Russia's relentless missile and drone assaults but in short supply amid the US's own war on Iran.

Meanwhile Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets yesterday to destroy a suspected Russian marine drone spotted a few hundred metres from a Black Sea gas project.

The country’s defence minister said that the drone was destroyed as it travelled near Neptun Deep, a critical facility that is expected to make Romania the European Union's largest gas producer when it comes on-stream ⁠in 2027.

Russian police have arrested citizens complaining of fuel shortages at the pump, as Ukraine’s drone campaign sparked fighting at petrol stations and rationing.

Moscow and its surrounding regions have been forced to reimpose purchase limits on fuel, capping sales at between 50 and 60 litres per vehicle.

As Ukraine intensifies its “deep strike” campaign, hitting another major oil refinery on Wednesday, the strain on Russia’s domestic energy grid continues to grow. Across at least 12 regions, miles of gridlocked traffic now stall forecourts, with motorists waiting up to 30 hours only to find the pumps empty.

The prolonged waits have pushed the Russian public to breaking point, with footage showing fights erupting between drivers over fuel.

Ukrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers, people aware of the discussion told the FT.

The war-hit nation will need approval from Starlink chief Elon Musk, who has offered to help Ukraine but also made critical comments on the country.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump and other American officials to facilitate Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications system for guiding strikes within Russian territory.

This push for expanded Starlink capabilities emerges as Kyiv seeks alternative strategies to reduce its reliance on US Patriot air defence systems, crucial for countering Russia's relentless missile and drone assaults.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck two key Russian oil facilities yesterday, with both attacks starting fires.

The facilities that were hit were an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Tatarstan region, and the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in Volna, Krasnodar.

Ukraine has previously hit both facilities in recent months as part of its campaign to disrupt Russia’s vital oil industry.

Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov confirmed there had been a “massive attack” in the region, state news agency Tass reported, citing his press service.

Many of the drones targeted Nizhnekamsk’s Zakamsk economic area, disrupting production at industrial sites and damaging residential buildings, Tass quoted him as saying.

The Russian defence ministry said air defences shot down 726 drones on Thursday overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine's biggest aerial attacks of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for countries to send more Patriot interceptors for defence, but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Kyiv's more than four-year fight against Russia.

“We need missiles for Patriots, and only our partners can provide them. We ain’t talking about gifts. Ukraine is ready to buy the weapons we need. What matters is that decisions be made, first and foremost in the US. I am grateful to everyone who is helping Ukraine save lives,” he said.

Explosions boomed across Kyiv in the dark, but the air force said hits were recorded at 28 locations across the country.

Emergency services said 15 people were killed in the capital, with another death in the wider Kyiv region. About 40 people were wounded, Zelensky said, as air raid warnings lasted until after dawn.

Russia is able to produce more than 200 cruise and ballistic missiles per month, Ukraine’s intelligence agency told news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

It has stockpiled more than 1,100 cruise missiles and about 130 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as hundreds of missiles of other types, the agency was quoted as saying.

The US Army’s top general has directed a Europe-based unit specialising in drone warfare to revert to traditional infantry roles.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade has spent over a year experimenting with drones, influenced by tactics from the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Last November, 600 soldiers formed a battalion that specialised in drone warfare and was set up to deploy anywhere drones were required.

General Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting chief of staff, has ordered the battalion to refocus on its core mission of being an airborne infantry unit, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Army deliberations.

The move is part of broader Army changes under LaNeve, who took over after defence secretary Pete Hegseth ousted his predecessor, General Randy George, in April.

A bid by ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov to broaden a political fight with president Volodymyr Zelensky by calling for wartime elections appears to have backfired, failing to win over protesters who had demanded his return.

Despite the protests, parliament on Wednesday approved a new defence minister chosen by Zelensky and later that day only a few dozen people remained in a central Kyiv square where thousands once joined rare wartime protests.

“When we came out to protest, we did not come with the idea that elections should be held,” 22-year-old Iryna Vasyliaka told Reuters on Wednesday. "That is not what we were here for."

Olena Prokopenko, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said Fedorov had been poised to cast himself as "a statesman, a politician of a new generation" after the war, but miscalculated.

“With this statement, he pretty much played on Ukrainians' most sensitive pain points,” Prokopenko said.

Russia's relentless onslaught has spooked other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear spreading attacks from Moscow.

Amid a major attack on Kyiv yesterday morning, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command activated its military aviation operations, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance. Polish and other Nato military aircraft were deployed to monitor its airspace, Polish news agency PAP reported.

Romania's defence ministry later said an unidentified drone crashed and burned in an uninhabited area near the Ukrainian border.

Two Spanish F-18 jets, deployed on a policing mission in Romania, were scrambled overnight to monitor a group of "air targets" near the border, the ministry said.

In addition, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were deployed to destroy a naval drone seen near a major Black Sea gas project, Romania's acting defence minister Radu Miruta said.

Moldova's defence ministry also said its airspace was breached by at least one drone.

Russia "is increasingly testing the resolve of Nato and its partners, violating the sovereignty of neighboring states and deliberately expanding the risks posed by its war far beyond Ukraine," Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen saw a broad threat to the European Union. "An escalating campaign of threats is underway, unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our Union," she said on X.

Russia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the "realities on the ground".

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with media outlet News.ru published this morning that the US demonstrated a readiness for “constructive dialogue” and an "understanding of Russia's position”.

“At this stage, it is more important to what extent Washington is able to influence the decisions of the Kyiv regime and its European sponsors, who still dream of a 'strategic defeat' of Russia,” he told the outlet.

Ryabkov said Russia was ready to listen to Rubio's new ideas and continue dialogue with Washington.

“The Russian Federation is ready to listen to any reasonable proposals and ideas that are in line with the goals set by the Russian president and meet the 'realities on the ground',” he said.