Russian Drone Strikes Kyiv Hospital as Starshield Limits Hamper Air Defences
A Russian drone struck a hospital in central Kyiv in the early hours of Friday, injuring three patients and forcing the evacuation of dozens more, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that speed limits on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite system were hampering Ukraine’s air defences.
The drone smashed into the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics at about 3am local time, hitting the second floor of the six-storey building and an adjoining 19th-century wing, The Guardian reported. A fire broke out, and the blast blew out windows in nearby buildings, including the National Academy of Arts across the road.
Thirty patients evacuated as fire spread
Thirty patients were taken to safety and emergency services rescued seven more people from the building. Ukraine’s Health Ministry said three patients at the facility were injured and received medical assistance at the scene, and the hospital’s medical director, Roman Derkach, told the Kyiv Independent that no medical staff were hurt. Patients were moved to undamaged wards or discharged, and medical services were temporarily suspended while the clean-up began. The hospital stands in the Shevchenkivskyi district, not far from the Danish and Romanian embassies.
One patient, Oleksandr, described being woken by the blast. “We were asleep when there was this massive boom. We all jumped out of bed straight away,” he said. “If it had hit a little further to the left it would have been much worse.”
A wider night of attacks across Ukraine
The hospital was hit during a wider overnight Russian attack. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 117 long-range attack drones, including 63 jet-powered drones, and that air defences had intercepted 80 of them, including 39 jet-powered models, by 7.30am.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian attacks killed nine people and injured 61 across the country over the preceding day. Russian strikes on energy infrastructure overnight also caused power cuts in 12 regions, including Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kharkiv, according to Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov.
Moscow claimed its air defences had shot down nearly 1,200 Ukrainian drones overnight and reported at least four people killed in the southern Volgograd region. Those claims could not be independently verified.
Russia has recently stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, hitting power plants, passenger trains and two bridges across the Dnipro river. Kyiv describes the campaign as an illegal campaign of terror. It followed a Russian strike on a Ukrainian aid centre earlier this month that killed at least 31 people.
Starshield limits at the centre of the row
On Thursday, Zelenskyy said the Starshield system — operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and overseen by the Pentagon — was again experiencing significant disruptions, after an unexplained slowdown last month. Starshield is the Ukrainian military’s version of Starlink.
He said some Russian aerial sorties had got through because Ukrainian interceptor systems that rely on the US satellite service could not reach the necessary speed to knock out enemy drones. Restrictions had capped Starshield’s operating speed at 161 kilometres per hour, or 100 miles per hour, according to the Kyiv Independent, and Zelenskyy said on Friday that the limits continued across the “entire front line”.
The restrictions trace back to mid-October, when Ukrainian officials said SpaceX had abruptly capped the speed of Starlink and its military version amid tensions with Washington over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Service was restored on 24 October, but Zelenskyy said the speed limits remained in place along the front line and in occupied areas. Kyiv is seeking an explanation from the United States, and the White House has yet to explain why the service was throttled for a second time.
Diplomacy continues in the background
The strike came during a week of intense US-led shuttle diplomacy. Trump’s envoys, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and the property developer Steve Witkoff, met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, then flew to Dublin to brief Zelenskyy on their talks, which followed trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi earlier in the week.
Kremlin negotiators insist that Ukraine hand over four Ukrainian provinces, including cities and villages Russian troops have been unable to conquer, and are calling for a new “security architecture” in Europe — in effect, a demand that NATO return to its pre-1997 posture. Zelenskyy said this week that US negotiators had raised whether Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas in exchange for NATO membership, calling it the first time the idea had come up.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that Europe had to take part in the talks, since “US support” for Kyiv had ended. “Without Europeans, there is no support for Ukraine,” he said.
Frequently asked questions
What happened at the Kyiv hospital?
A Russian drone hit the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics at about 3am on Friday, damaging the second floor and starting a fire. Three patients were injured and 30 were evacuated.
How many people were hurt in the wider attack?
Ukrainian authorities said nine people were killed and 61 injured across Ukraine over the preceding day.
What is Starshield and why does it matter?
Starshield is the Ukrainian military’s version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system, overseen by the Pentagon. Zelenskyy says speed limits on the service are preventing Ukrainian interceptor drones from reaching the speed needed to shoot down Russian drones.
What is happening in the peace talks?
US envoys met Putin in Moscow and briefed Zelenskyy in Dublin after trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi. The Kremlin is demanding four Ukrainian provinces, while Zelenskyy says US negotiators have raised a possible Donbas-for-NATO-membership trade.
