Presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov cautioned earlier on October 20 that even with US intelligence reaching Ukraine, warnings of Russian missile attacks can arrive just a minute before impact. Beskrestnov added that restrictions on Starlink and Starshield remain in place, prompting Kyiv to look for alternative systems for military communications, air defense and civilian connectivity.
The latest strike on Kyiv's power grid followed an October 18 to 19 assault in which Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles and 269 strike and decoy drones, including 59 jet powered drones, after firing 463 drones during the day on October 18. That barrage hit 28 substations and more than 10 energy facilities across 11 regions and cut power to about 550,000 households, while a daytime Russian strike on a park in Nova Vodolaha in the Kharkiv region on October 19 killed at least six people, including two children, and injured 14.