Starlink Speeds Restored in Ukraine After SpaceX Restriction
publishers 39articles 47first reported 9 Oct, 12:00 UTCdeveloping since 9 Oct · 22 editions
Ukraine’s access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links has returned to the speeds needed for military operations after more than a week of restrictions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.
The limits had cut service for objects traveling faster than about 160 km/h, disrupting drones, aircraft and helicopters. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian tests found Starlink continued working aboard vehicles moving above 180 km/h in European Union countries, leading Kyiv to conclude that the restriction was specific to Ukraine and deliberate. He had also said Ukrainian officials believed the change followed a message from the U.S. government.
Elon Musk later acknowledged that SpaceX had restricted Starlink, saying Ukraine’s military had violated the civilian service’s terms by using it for offensive drone strikes. Musk said SpaceX closed that loophole but maintained that the U.S. government controlled changes to Starshield, the military-grade service used by Ukraine.
U.S. officials denied ordering a slowdown. President Donald Trump said neither he nor Musk had caused an outage, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Zelenskyy’s allegation “reckless” and said the administration had not taken such action.
Zelenskyy said restoration began Friday night and reached sufficient levels by Saturday morning, improving frontline communications, logistics and defenses against Russian Shahed drones. Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara credited direct talks and diplomacy with Washington for the resolution.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 372 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 39
- Source articles
- 47
- Given to the writer
- 8, 3 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 372 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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