Zelenskyy says Ukraine received no advance warning from partners before Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv received no advance warning from its international partners before a Russian ballistic missile attack on the capital, with Ukrainian forces detecting five incoming missiles only seconds before impact.

Zelenskyy made the remarks in his evening address on October 13, stressing the critical importance of intelligence-sharing between Ukraine and its allies in protecting civilians from Russian missile strikes.

“Yesterday, unfortunately, Kyiv was hit by ballistic missiles, and we received no warning from our partners about this attack. Usually, we do receive such warnings, and they are extremely important – they help us defend ourselves,” Zelenskyy said.

According to the Ukrainian president, Russian forces launched five ballistic missiles during the attack on October 12, leaving Ukrainian air defences with virtually no time to respond.

“There were five ballistic missiles, and, in fact, our Armed Forces detected them only seconds before impact,” he said.

Zelenskyy emphasised that closer intelligence and military cooperation with Ukraine’s international partners was essential to improving the country’s ability to detect incoming threats and protect civilian lives.

“And that is precisely why we tell our partners that their cooperation with Ukraine provides greater protection for life, allows us to save more people, and helps stop Russian killings,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader also called for full cooperation between military and intelligence agencies, stressing that Kyiv had taken the necessary steps to facilitate such coordination.

“Our military and intelligence services must cooperate fully, and on our side, we have everything necessary in place,” Zelenskyy said.

He did not specify why Ukraine had failed to receive advance warning of the latest attack or identify which partners would ordinarily have provided the intelligence.