It’s particularly shocking that the massive Russian attacks on Ukraine are proving so successful because their air defences have lost much of the benefit of the Starlink system. Russia sent dozens of ballistic missiles in a huge attack on the country’s energy infrastructure early on Wednesday, cutting power to 600,000 people in Kyiv. The entire energy system is at risk of collapse in the coming months as power plants and substations are attacked in a clear attempt to to deprive Ukrainians of heat and water – and temperatures of -20 deg C and lower are all too common in winters there. It’s becoming clear that the cut in access to Starlink was deliberate, that the Pentagon has set a speed limit on it so that Ukraine is unable to use it either to detect ballistic missiles and fast drones or to attack Russian oil refineries, thus allowing Russia to pump more diesel onto global markets - and that in turn is aimed at reducing the price of diesel in the US to help the Republicans prospects in the midterm elections. Trump seems happy to sell the Ukrainians out just to buy a few more votes. That’s an unprecedented level of corruption even for him. I wonder what the Trump followers here think of that?

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