Ukraine said on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military version Starshield were again operating at high speeds after over a week of restrictions that disrupted military operations and intensified tensions with the US.
– Problems with Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned systems came after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel while pressing Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries.
– Ukrainian officials said the restrictions hampered the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations.
– “Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence monitoring systems are officially recording the restoration of Starlink/Starshield operating speeds,” the ministry said on the Telegram app.
– “Connectivity remains stable at speeds exceeding 400 km per hour,” it added.
– The Ukrainian military does not disclose the systems’ maximum operating speeds, and the defence ministry did not say whether service had been fully restored. When limitations were in place, Ukraine experienced problems trying to operate at speeds over 160 kph.
– Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory, but Starlink is vital for frontline communications and Starshield is used for military operations in occupied territories.
– The restrictions sparked outrage in Ukraine, particularly as they coincided with disruptions to allied warnings about incoming Russian missile attacks. Kyiv later said it continued to receive US intelligence.
– Neither Musk nor the US government has acknowledged responsibility for restricting Starlink or Starshield in Ukraine. Both have said publicly that any such decision could only have been taken by the other.
– Reuters has reported that the order to throttle Starshield came from inside the White House. Previously, US administrations had several times asked SpaceX to turn Starlink on or off in various countries, sources said.
– Trump said on Friday that if problems persisted, he would “get it straightened out”.