Ukrainian military units have observed significant malfunctions in Starshield satellite communications in Ukraine for several days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Zelensky said a speed limit of 161 kilometers per hour (100 mph) is in effect for Starshield along the entire front line and in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian troops have concluded that these are not random errors but a “systemic speed limit.”
The outages have made it significantly harder for Ukraine to intercept Russian jet-powered drones, Zelensky said. “Unfortunately, there have already been hits because interceptor systems can’t reach sufficient speed and don’t have time to intercept. Unfortunately, this is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more precise strikes on Ukraine,” he added.
Ukraine has contacted the United States to determine the cause of the outages.
The Ukrainian military had already encountered restrictions on Starshield satellite communication terminals in October. Western media reported that the restrictions on communications for Ukrainian troops were initiated by SpaceX founder Elon Musk (the company behind Starlink and Starshield).
He himself has accused Ukraine of using Starlink for “offensive” drone strikes. The Ukrainian military said this is “technically impossible,” since Starlink does not operate over Russia. He also indicated that satellite communications for the Ukrainian military were restricted out of concern that Russia would shoot down SpaceX satellites.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he did not order the restrictions on Starshield in Ukraine and does not know who could have done this. The Pentagon declined to investigate.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.