Ukraine says Starlink and Starshield speeds are restored after a week of limits. Musk accused Kyiv of violations.
Ukraine said Saturday that Starlink and its military version, Starshield, were fully functional again after more than a week of restrictions that disrupted military operations and strained relations with the United States. Hours later, Elon Musk, who owns the systems, accused the Ukrainian military of violating Starlink’s terms.
Ukrainian officials said the restrictions, which capped speeds at 160 kph (100 mph), hampered the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations. Ukraine’s defense ministry said Saturday that its monitoring systems showed a stable connection at speeds above 400 kph (about 249 mph). President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main thing was that Starlink and Starshield had resumed operating at their pre-restriction speeds.
In a post on X, Musk said the Ukrainian military violated Starlink’s terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. He said the company had closed that loophole. Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy, denied the claim, saying that every Starlink terminal in Ukraine has a speed restriction of 70 to 90 kph and does not work on Russian territory. He said Ukraine could not physically use Starlink for long- or medium-range attack drone operations. Former defense ministry adviser Serhii Sternenko also denied that Ukraine violated the terms. Neither Musk nor the U.S. government, which operates Starshield using Starlink technology, took responsibility for imposing the limits. Each said publicly that any decision on the restrictions could only have been taken by the other, Reuters reported.
Ukraine does not depend on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory, including attacks on refineries. Starlink remains vital for frontline communications, and the deployment of fast Starshield-enabled medium-range attack drones has helped Ukraine gain the upper hand in several areas of the battlefield this year. Axios reported that Zelenskyy saw the restrictions as retaliation by President Donald Trump and Musk for his refusal to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries. It said the dispute led to bipartisan criticism and a blame game between the White House and Musk.
Information for this report was provided by Reuters, the Korea Times, the Kyiv Independent and Axios.