Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian president known by the call sign "Flash," stated in an interview with the BBC that intelligence data from American partners continues to flow, but the problem, according to him, exclusively concerns the air raid warning component. He claimed that human losses were recorded precisely due to a lack of time to warn citizens about ballistic missile strikes. Beskrestnov emphasized that American intelligence information remains, in his assessment, incomplete and inconsistent, and the US has not provided a clear explanation for the issue that arose.
"Sometimes we receive information one minute before an attack"
Describing the nature of the failure, the presidential adviser gave a specific example: "It looks very strange. Sometimes we receive this information before an attack, sometimes not. For example, last night we received it, but one minute before the attack." According to him, such a margin of time is insufficient to organize proper notification of the population and evacuate people from impact zones. At the same time, he separately emphasized that the rest of the cooperation with the US continues and has not been stopped overall—it is precisely the delay or absence of the air raid signal that is in question.
Ukraine's own radar data
Beskrestnov also reported that Ukraine has its own radar data, which provides, in his words, a certain but limited warning about approaching attacks. This, in his logic, partially compensates for the failure in the American warning channel, yet does not completely replace it. Thus, Kyiv, according to the adviser, relies on two sources: American intelligence and its own radar systems, and it is their combination that allows maintaining a baseline level of early warning.
Connection with Starlink restrictions and pressure on negotiations
Answering a question about the coincidence of intelligence problems and restrictions on the use of Starlink, Beskrestnov stated that this is likely a deliberate step to put pressure on Ukraine. "Likely, this is the US trying to tell us: let's talk, negotiate with Russia, you must find a compromise," he stated. This statement is evaluative in nature and reflects the position of the Ukrainian adviser regarding the motives of the American side, which are neither confirmed nor refuted by the US itself in the provided materials.
Context: Threats to stop the exchange and its resumption
Earlier, according to The Washington Post, US intelligence warned the Ukrainian embassy in Washington that new strikes on Russian energy facilities would mean a complete halt to intelligence sharing; the publication noted that it was these threats that caused confusion around intelligence. Later, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the US had resumed intelligence sharing after it was blocked for "a certain period of time." At the same time, the president did not disclose additional details and only added that a new meeting with Trump's team on ending the war might take place next week.
What this means for Kyiv
The combination of "Flash's" statements and previous reports indicates that the intelligence-sharing channel between the US and Ukraine experienced a period of instability: first, a complete halt was threatened, then the exchange was resumed, but, according to the presidential adviser, the air raid warning component remains problematic. For Ukraine, this means maintaining dependence on the timeliness of American notification while simultaneously relying on its own radar capabilities. Future dynamics, according to Zelenskyy, may become clearer at a possible meeting with Trump's team next week.
