KYIV (The Thursday Times) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that speed restrictions on Starshield, the military-grade satellite internet service used on the front line, have helped a wave of deadly Russian drone and missile attacks get through. Starlink’s owner, SpaceX, has denied restricting internet speeds.
“Many of these strikes are getting through because restrictions on the operating speed of Starshield terminals along the front line and in the temporarily occupied territories are still there,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. He had told journalists in Kyiv that the limits had been in place for about five days and affected the “entire frontline”. Ukrainian drones, he said, lose their connection at speeds above 161 km/h (100 mph), which makes incoming jet-powered Shahed drones harder to intercept.
Who controls Starshield
Starshield is a military version of Starlink that the US government provides to Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces use the ordinary Starlink service for battlefield communications. Zelenskyy said the defence ministry raised the problem with SpaceX, which replied that it was imposing no restrictions and blamed a technical issue. “We do not believe that is the case,” he said. He asked officials to work closely with the US government and with Elon Musk’s company, adding that it was “important to be on the right side of history”.
The dispute is not new. Speed limits were first identified in October, and Musk said at the time that Starshield was controlled by the US government. President Donald Trump denied responsibility and said he had told Musk to “put it back”. Service appeared to return to normal after about a week before Ukraine reported the limits again.
Overnight strikes
Russia hit energy and railway infrastructure across several regions overnight. An energy facility in Odesa was struck, leaving 41,000 households without electricity, according to the energy provider DTEK. Ukraine’s army said it shot down 106 of 132 Russian drones launched overnight. Two people were killed on Saturday in a drone attack on infrastructure in the northern Koriukivka area.
Ukraine said its forces struck a petrochemical plant and an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk in Russia’s Tatarstan region, and local officials reported six people injured there. Russia’s defence ministry said it had attacked Ukrainian military airfields and ammunition depots.
The complaint comes as Kyiv faces other pressure. Zelenskyy said earlier this week that Washington floated Ukraine withdrawing from the Donbas in exchange for NATO membership, and Trump, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin are due to meet in Shenzhen next week, with Ukraine not on the agenda.
