Starlink in Ukraine: Zelensky calls restrictions a 'planned operation' after tests
Kyiv says the satellite link drops above 161 km/h inside Ukraine but not in the EU. SpaceX cited a technical problem, Kyiv says, while Musk points to the U.S. government.
Archive image · Photo: Support Forces of Ukraine Command / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Ukraine's military can still use SpaceX's Starlink and Starshield networks only in a restricted way, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday on the sidelines of an EU summit. Inside Ukraine the link cuts out above 161 km/h, he said, while tests with vehicles in EU countries kept the connection at more than 180 km/h. "In other words, this is a planned operation," Zelensky said.
According to Ukrainian officials, the limits mainly hit interceptor drones used against Russian attack drones, which previously operated over the network at up to 400 km/h. "We lose both drones and connectivity," Zelensky said. Defence ministry sources accused SpaceX of imposing the restrictions unilaterally.
SpaceX told Ukrainian officials it was a technical problem, according to Axios. Elon Musk wrote on X that Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that any limits are decided by the military and ultimately the president. President Donald Trump said he had not restricted access, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said nobody in the government ordered the slowdown.