Ukraine Says Starlink and Starshield Speeds Restored After Restrictions
publishers 66articles 99first reported 13 Oct, 19:15 UTCdeveloping since 14 Oct · 19 editionstop 25 #24
Ukraine said Saturday that Starlink and its military-grade counterpart, Starshield, were again operating at the speeds needed by its armed forces after more than a week of restrictions that disrupted drone missions and battlefield communications.
Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said Ukraine now had a “stable connection” and could maintain links at speeds above 400 km/h. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said service had returned to its pre-restriction performance and thanked US officials, including President Donald Trump and the State Department, for helping resolve the issue.
Ukrainian officials had reported since Oct. 14 that terminals lost connectivity when drones exceeded about 161 km/h, or 100 mph. They said the limits caused the loss of drones, hampered efforts to intercept Russian attacks and forced some operations behind Russian lines to be cancelled.
Responsibility for the restrictions remains disputed. Zelenskyy said the US government requested the speed limit and SpaceX implemented it. Trump denied ordering restrictions. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said Starshield was controlled by the US government and that limits were decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said decisions involving Starlink and Starshield were made by Musk’s private company.
Ukraine relies extensively on the satellite networks for military communications, logistics and drone operations. The disruption has also reinforced Ukrainian and European efforts to reduce dependence on a single commercial satellite provider and develop alternative communications systems.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 5 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 258 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 66
- Source articles
- 99
- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 258 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
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