Ukraine asks American billionaire Elon Musk for help to defend itself from increasing Russian ballistic missile attacks amid the serious shortage of air defense ammunition and the slow supply from its partners. Former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov continues his attempts to convince the owner of the Starlink satellite internet company to allow Ukraine to use it over Russian territory, something it needs to hunt down Russian missile launchers, such as the Iskander-M and the S-400.
Almost every night, the launchers move to unknown locations hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border to launch missile salvoss that take several minutes to reach their targets. The latest Russian ballistic attack on kyiv and Zaporizhzhia (south) killed seven people and injured 24 on Tuesday morning, damaging a large metallurgical plant in Zaporizhia and a children’s hospital in the capital. Ukraine could not intercept a single missileafter exhausting the interceptors of the American-made Patriot air defense systems.
kyiv has only been able to shoot down one of the 70 missiles launched by Russia
So far in August, only one of about 70 missiles has been shot down. In an attempt to exploit Ukraine’s vulnerability, Russia has invested additional resources in increasing its ballistic missile production, according to Ukrainian Military Intelligence. In the last attack, he used again ballistic missiles received from North Korea, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, attracting North Korean assets, preparing for mobilization – shows that “Moscow is not preparing for peace, but for escalation”he stressed, urging the world “to react now, not to wait.” Gaining access to Starlink satellite internet over Russian territory would allow Ukraine to guide its drones in real time over possible launch locations and organize attacks against them if the launchers are detected, before they can flee. Ukraine lacks very fast weapons with which to hit those locations in a matter of minutes and is only now testing its own ballistic missiles. However, Starlink could make the hunt for Russian launchers somewhat easier.
The US concern
So far, American businessman Elon Musk and US authorities are reluctant to provide Ukraine with that access or more tools to defend itself, according to various reports. The US is reluctant to allow Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors itself for fear that the technology ends up in Russian or third-party hands. This reasoning could mask fears that Ukraine would upgrade and produce the missiles cheaper and much faster, thus undermining the US monopoly, according to other reports.
All of this has recently led Zelensky to suggest that support is being deliberately withheld to make Ukraine more open to giving in to Russia. Elon Musk Reportedly Considers It’s Time for Ukraine to “make a deal.
For now, Ukraine continues its attempts to hit the Russian launchers with the instruments at its disposal. On Monday morning, Russia failed to launch a major strike amid heightened Ukrainian drone activity, according to Ukrainian analysts, although it is unclear whether any of the Russian launchers were hit.
On Monday, Ukrainian drones reached the large Tobolsk oil refinery, located 2,500 km away, and caused large fires.
This is “the first time in Russian history” that they no longer have a secure rear and cannot wage war without North Korea’s support, Zelensky said. At the same time, South Korea, a major military producer, continues to reject Ukraine’s requests for air defense systems and other equipment.