Russia strikes Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure; Zelensky says partners gave no warning, accuses US of delaying EU-funded arms

According to France 24, Russia launched a new round of attacks on Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure on Monday. The report did not identify specific locations struck, the extent of damage to facilities or casualty figures.

Ukrainian President Zelensky subsequently said Kyiv had again not received advance warning of the attack from partner countries that had previously shared intelligence. He also accused the United States of deliberately delaying the delivery of weapons funded by the European Union. France 24 provided no verification material and did not report any response from the United States or other partner countries, so both claims can currently only be treated as public allegations by Zelensky.

According to Zelensky’s account, the distribution of power within the support chain is asymmetric: partner countries that had shared intelligence did not issue a warning, the United States was accused of deliberately delaying the delivery of EU-funded weapons, and Ukraine was the party bearing the consequences of attacks on its facilities and delays in military aid. This division of roles did not eliminate the asymmetry in responsibility: whether a warning was conveyed, who bore the cost and when weapons arrived could all change the timing and manner in which Ukraine bore the risk.

This is precisely the sharp point of Zelensky’s pursuit of accountability for early warnings and military aid side by side: for Kyiv, whether external support can serve as a security guarantee depends not only on partner status and financial contributions, but also on whether intelligence arrives before an attack and the relevant weapons are delivered in time. Warning information and delivery responsibilities are distributed among different partners, and formal partnerships cannot automatically eliminate this power asymmetry; the partners concerned therefore wield practical power over when risk actually falls on Ukraine.