Air Force confirms partners did not warn about ballistic missile

During the Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv in the night of October 19, Ukraine did not receive a warning from international partners about the first wave of missiles. However, before the second wave, the relevant information was already coming in.

This was reported by the spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Yurii Ihnat, on the air of the national telethon.

According to him, during the night Russia carried out two ballistic strikes - approximately at 23:00 and 03:00. The situation with the transfer of intelligence data repeated the scenario of previous attacks.

"The first time indeed the information did not come in for certain reasons. Our experts together with partners are looking into it here, because this situation has occurred more than once. Well, at three in the morning the information came in", - said Ihnat.

The spokesman reminded that similar problems occurred during the massive attack on October 14. At that time, partners also did not warn about the first wave of ballistic missile launches, but before subsequent strikes warnings were already coming in.

Meanwhile, Ihnat emphasized that Ukraine has its own sources of information about missile launches and radar surveillance means.

According to him, during the first night attack the Air Force reported the threat of ballistic missile use through official channels. However, already about a minute later the missiles appeared in the airspace, so there was very little time to react.

Currently, Ukrainian experts together with international partners are clarifying the reasons for the problems with the transmission of warnings. Ihnat did not specify whether they were related to technical malfunctions or other circumstances.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that he cannot confirm the reports about the absence of an American warning during the latest attack. At the same time, he acknowledged that a few days earlier software problems occurred with the early warning system. The circumstances are being studied by the US European Command.

The day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the United States restored the transmission to Ukraine of intelligence data on Russian ballistic missile launches after a multi-day break.

Thus, the new statement by the Air Force confirms the absence of a warning from partners before the first wave of the attack on October 19, but does not establish the causes of this incident or the responsibility of a specific state.

Based on materials: Ukrainska Pravda - statement by Yurii Ihnat