Zelensky says Starshield speed limits slowing down frontline response

Let's turn now to Ukraine. The death toll in the latest Russian airstrike on Ukraine has risen to six. Two women and three children are among the dead in a park in Kharkiv. When the Pope was spoken with, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone this Monday, the pontiff urging cooperation between Ukraine and Russia to allow aid into the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky. Russia's Vladimir Putin is hailing a meeting, this seems to be coming exclusively from Putin, between Donald Trump of the US and China's Xi Jinping to resolve the Ukraine war, Ukraine not invited. Let's bring in Gulliver Craig, our Ukraine correspondent Gulliver joining us live. Gulliver, good evening to you. Zelensky is warning his troops are still being hindered by slower speeds on the U.S. Starshield satellite system. Yes, the Americans seem to be wringing their hands of it, Marco Rubio saying that Ukraine never had access to the Star Shield system, which is the military version of Starlink, That's completely untrue. They've got a contract since 2024. Elon Musk saying it's not up to him because it's up to the Pentagon, because this is a US government-controlled military application of the Starlink technology, which was originally created by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. They do manage the satellites, but access to it for military purposes is controlled by the Pentagon. Scott Besson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary saying that Volodymyr Zelensky is being very reckless in claiming that the decision to cut this Starlink access in the sense of limiting the speed at which drones equipped with it can travel was a U.S. government decision. It cannot not have been a U.S. government decision. The only possibility is that it's some kind of technical glitch, but that seems unlikely because the Ukrainians say they tested it in another country nearby and there it works fine. We're not so far hearing any reports coming in from the Ukrainian military about these limitations on the speed at which drones can travel with this on board being lifted. And Volodymyr Zelensky has not said that they've been lifted either, despite the Americans seemingly being a bit unsure about whether they should have really done this, because there's a question of whether it was legal, given that Ukraine has a contract and that it's supposed to work and their lives are at stake. On the other hand, Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the United States, having suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine for three days, have now resumed it, and they are getting that data now. But a new worry has come up. Apparently, the Americans are not supplying the Patriot missile system ammunition that they have been contracted to supply and that Ukraine's European allies have already paid for. Gulliver, that sounds like a dire situation indeed. We talk about drones as attack weapons. We talk about drones and the damage they cause. You have a different angle on this one. Drones apparently being used to evacuate casualties. Oh, you know, drones in Ukraine are also used all the time to supply food and ammunition to soldiers who are on the front lines because the most dangerous thing is traveling to and from the front line positions. And that's why sometimes soldiers can be stuck there for a very long time. And this was the case of a man who's being called Konstantin, a 49-year-old soldier in the 30th Brigade. He was in the Kupyansk direction in Kharkiv region, further to the east from Kharkiv. And there his comrade was killed and he was severely wounded. He actually cut off one of his own legs, apparently, according to what Ukrainian media were reporting. And ultimately, he was rescued by a huge helicopter drone that picked him up. There's video footage of the way he's being carried vertically. And the Ukrainians are saying that this is the first time that there's been a military evacuation done by flying drone. There have been civilian evacuations done apparently in China. People are stuck in mountains and things like that. But this is the first time it's been used to evacuate a wounded soldier from a frontline situation. The Ukrainians are saying that this is the absolute last resort only to be used in extremis because it's quite dangerous and very difficult for a severely wounded person to be transported in this way by helicopter. The problem is that these kinds of extreme situations are likely to happen really quite frequently because there is often no other way that the Ukrainians can get to these frontline positions and evacuate wounded soldiers because the air is so saturated with enemy drones who will fire on any land-based transport that tries to go to bring out the wounded. Absolutely remarkable story. Gulliver Craig, thank you very much indeed for bringing that to us. Gulliver Craig, a Ukraine correspondent. Take care. Thank you, sir, for being with us.