Ukraine Says Starshield Service Restored After Speed Limit Disrupted Drone Operations
publishers 22articles 32first reported 13 Oct, 19:15 UTCdeveloping since 14 Oct · 17 editions
Ukraine’s military-grade satellite connectivity was fully restored on Thursday after a speed restriction disrupted drone operations, The Moscow Times reported, citing a Ukrainian Defense Ministry source quoted by Ukrinform. The ministry is seeking clarification about the cause of the disruption.
Ukrainian officials said terminals using SpaceX’s Starlink-related Starshield service lost connectivity when travelling faster than 100 mph (160 km/h) beginning Tuesday night. The restriction affected attack drones and air-defence interceptors but did not significantly affect stationary terminals used by ground forces. Partial improvements were reported Wednesday before the service was said to have resumed fully.
President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk to restore connectivity, saying he hoped the disruption was a technical problem. Zelensky adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov alleged that the restriction was connected to tensions between Kyiv and Washington, while Zelensky later told the Financial Times that he believed it was deliberate.
Musk said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that speed or usage limits are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president. He distinguished Starshield from the commercial Starlink service, which he said is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action. The U.S. government had not publicly confirmed responsibility for the restriction.
The disruption coincided with major Russian strikes on Ukraine. Zelensky also said Ukraine had not received its usual advance warning from partners about incoming ballistic missiles, although President Donald Trump denied that Washington had stopped sharing intelligence.
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Written from 8 articles, 6 with the publisher's own text; 7 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 42 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- This version written
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