Zelensky: Ukraine Strikes Russian Iskander Launcher

Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck a Russian Iskander-M missile launcher in Russia.

The Ukrinform news agency reported this, citing a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a conversation with journalists.

“Today we have another success. We cannot provide many details due to the sensitivity of the operation, but the fact is the fact. We struck an Iskander launcher near our borders. I am grateful to our soldiers who are carrying this out. This is our operation to hunt their systems located nearby,” he said.

According to the president, striking launchers in Russia’s border regions is one way of countering Russian missile attacks.

“In other words, this is one of the ways when our anti-ballistic missiles are limited — there is another tactic, which is more difficult, that we have developed. It is hunting their nearby launch sites from which they launch ballistic missiles. This is a separate matter, a separate program, a separate operation,” Zelensky added.

At the same time, Zelensky said that SpaceX ultimately refused to allow Ukraine to use Starlink in Russia due to the risk of escalation.

According to Zelensky, in the first half of 2026, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine asked him to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump over the use of Starlink in Russia for Ukraine’s defense needs, as SpaceX and its CEO, Elon Musk, had allegedly already agreed to such a possibility, but it required political approval.

During a meeting with Trump, Zelensky raised the issue and argued that using Starlink would help limit Russia’s ability to prolong the war and bring it closer to an end.

Trump said he would consider Ukraine’s request and discuss it with Musk, but made no commitments to a positive decision.

During a subsequent meeting with Zelensky, Trump said SpaceX had refused Ukraine’s request to use Starlink in Russia due to the risk of escalation.

Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that Ukraine continues to discuss the issue with Trump and the U.S. side.

“Today, all of this is on the U.S. president’s side, and they are already having their own internal discussions,” Zelensky said.