US explained lack of warning on strike on Kyiv by weather - Politico

The American side explained the lack of advance warning about the Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv by adverse weather conditions. However, Ukrainian representatives consider this explanation insufficiently convincing.

Politico reported this on October 13, citing an official familiar with the circumstances of the incident.

According to the publication's source, American representatives told the Ukrainian side that the warning about the missile attack was not received due to bad weather. At the same time, doubts arose in Kyiv regarding the credibility of such an explanation.

"The Americans told the Ukrainians that there was no warning because of bad weather conditions. Kyiv does not consider this a convincing reason. Therefore, many are increasingly concerned that the matter might not have been this," — a Politico source said on condition of anonymity.

There is no official confirmation yet that weather conditions were the reason for the absence of a warning.

Ukraine usually receives information about possible Russian missile launches through an intelligence-sharing system, in which the American military and other NATO countries participate.

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha stated on October 13 at the Warsaw Security Forum that intelligence exchange with the US continues.

At the same time, the spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat noted that cases when necessary warnings are not received in a timely manner have happened before.

According to him, possible technical problems should be studied by Ukrainian specialists together with international partners.

The Kyiv Independent provides additional details. According to the publication, Ukrainian and American sources confirmed that Washington had not made a decision to stop intelligence sharing.

At the same time, a senior Ukrainian official told journalists that after the attack, representatives of Ukraine's military leadership contacted American colleagues to clarify the circumstances. The American side, according to him, claimed that they had not detected the missile launch.

Specialists have not yet established the final cause of the lack of warning. Possible explanations could be a technical failure, problems with detecting the launch or transferring information.

As previously reported by "Kurs Ukrainy", on the evening of October 12, Russian troops attacked Kyiv with five ballistic missiles. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that partners had not provided advance warning of the strike.

The incident occurred amid reports of the Trump administration demanding to stop Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. Earlier, the American side, according to media reports, threatened to restrict intelligence cooperation and arms supplies if such attacks continued.

However, there is no evidence that the lack of warning was a deliberate decision by Washington. Official representatives of Ukraine confirm the continuation of intelligence cooperation with American partners.

Based on materials from: Politico, The Kyiv Independent.