Ukraine’s Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield satellite connections have been restored, ending more than a week of speed restrictions on the satellite internet service that disrupted drone operations against Russian forces. The announcement, reported by POLITICO and by Al Jazeera, via Yahoo News, came hours before SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk acknowledged that his company had throttled the service.
Key facts
- Khmara told reporters in WhatsApp messages that the Ministry of Defence’s monitoring systems recorded Starlink and Starshield speeds “exceeding 400 km/h, and the connection is stable,” according to POLITICO.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that restoration began overnight and that by morning speeds were already sufficient, Al Jazeera reported.
- Musk wrote on X that SpaceX had closed a “loophole” last week because Ukraine’s military had used Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes.
- Serhii Beskrestnov, a defence technology adviser to Zelenskyy, disputed that account on Telegram, saying longstanding restrictions on the civilian system in Ukraine made such use impossible.
Why it matters
Al Jazeera reports that Ukraine relies heavily on SpaceX’s satellite services for communications and drone missions, and Musk himself wrote that Ukraine’s front line would “collapse immediately” if Starlink were switched off. No one publicly claimed responsibility for the restrictions until Musk’s post: Trump denied ordering them while defending Musk, according to Al Jazeera.
Thursday’s claim, Friday’s throttle, Saturday’s reading
Trump said on Thursday that Musk had “put it back.” Ukrainian officials told POLITICO on Friday that drones were still losing signal above 160 km/h, down from the earlier point at which Kyiv said drones were cutting out at 130-161 km/h. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham raised the issue in a phone call with Trump on Friday, POLITICO reported. By both outlets’ accounts, the caps were still measurable a day after Washington said they had been lifted.
Saturday’s claim rests on the defence ministry’s own monitoring rather than a SpaceX statement. Khmara framed the outcome in operational terms, calling it “of primary importance for the front line, our military personnel, the operation of drones, logistics, and communications,” POLITICO reported, and said the ministry would keep tracking both services. Al Jazeera reported that he credited talks with Washington and Zelenskyy’s diplomacy. Earlier in the week the Ukrainian president had expected the service back within 48 hours.
Musk’s account, and the dispute over it
Musk said on X that using a civilian commercial service for offensive drone strikes to kill people “has never been allowed, nor should it be,” as quoted by Al Jazeera, adding that SpaceX “has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR.” Beskrestnov’s response was that it was very strange Musk did not know about the existing restrictions on Starlink’s operation in Ukraine.
The use Musk objected to continued over the weekend. Al Jazeera reports that Ukraine claimed long-range drone strikes inside Russia in the same period, including on the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti, where Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage and no casualties, and an Ozon warehouse in Omsk hit by drones from Ukrainian company Fire Point.
Background: pressure on Kyiv, and other suppliers
POLITICO reports that the throttling came amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv, with Trump blaming Zelenskyy for the continuation of the war with Russia, and Al Jazeera adds that the exchanges follow the two presidents’ public confrontation at the White House in February 2025. During the caps, Ukraine signed satellite agreements with Finnish suppliers.
What to watch
Kyiv, not SpaceX, is the party publishing speed readings, so Khmara’s promised monitoring is the near-term test. Neither outlet reports a SpaceX statement confirming the restoration or setting out what rules now apply to Ukrainian use of the civilian network. Neither government has said whether the week of caps changed anything about the price or contract terms attached to Ukraine’s terminals, and neither outlet reports a figure for what the service costs Kyiv. The next scheduled moment where access could resurface is diplomatic: Al Jazeera reports that Ukrainian, Russian and US negotiators are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, talks Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Friday.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Starshield, and is it the same thing as Starlink?
POLITICO describes Starshield as Starlink’s military-grade service. Elon Musk, writing on X and quoted by Al Jazeera, said Starshield is “a different system” that is controlled by the US government, and that what Washington decides to do with it is up to the US government rather than SpaceX.
Does the 400 km/h figure refer to speed of the internet connection?
No. Al Jazeera describes the service as stable on equipment travelling above 400 km/h (250mph), so the figure is the speed at which a moving terminal — one carried by a drone, for example — can hold a link, not a data rate.
What else has strained relations between Washington and Kyiv?
According to Al Jazeera, the Starlink disruption added to pressure from Trump’s agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports. Trump also called earlier this month for Ukraine to have a new president and suggested on Monday that someone other than Zelenskyy should negotiate for Kyiv.
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