Ukraine’s reliance on Elon Musk’s satellite communications networks has come under renewed scrutiny after restrictions on Starshield disrupted the use of fast-moving drones against Russia.
Ukrainian military sources said equipment began experiencing difficulties on October 13, with speed limits imposed on Starshield terminals attached to drones. Some aircraft reportedly lost their connection and fell from the sky while travelling at speeds above the limit.
The disruption has raised questions over who controls the military-grade network and whether access has been fully restored. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, believes Mr Musk restricted Starshield at the request of US officials. Mr Musk has denied imposing the limits, while President Donald Trump has also denied responsibility.
Starshield restrictions affected Ukrainian drones
Ukrainian soldiers reported that Starshield dishes fitted to drones had been prevented from operating above certain speeds. The restrictions made it harder for remote pilots to maintain links with aircraft flying towards Russian targets.
Starshield is operated by SpaceX and uses the same constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites as Starlink, the company’s civilian service. It offers more advanced security features and does not have the same artificial speed cap as regular Starlink terminals.
Strike drones equipped with Starshield typically travel at around 160 kilometres per hour or more. Ukrainian units said their links had dropped at speeds as low as 90 kilometres per hour during the restrictions, rendering the drones unusable.
Zelenskyy said the limits had also prevented Ukraine from using Starshield to intercept Russian Shahed attack drones. An analysis by Ukrainian drone pilot and military analyst Dimko Zhluktenko estimated that the degradation had cost Ukraine tens of millions of dollars in losses.
Some Ukrainian officials said on October 15 that the restrictions had been lifted. However, Zelenskyy later said the maximum speed remained about 161 kilometres per hour, and described the service as “still limited”. He said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told him he would work with his team to “unblock” it.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Zelenskyy’s office said Starlink remained throttled.
Why Ukraine depends on Starlink and Starshield
Ukraine uses both networks. Starlink has provided internet access to civilians and military forces since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, while Starshield is used for battlefield communications and to connect sensors, weapons systems and drones.
The US government pays SpaceX to license Starshield and controls access to the military network. It has been provided to Ukraine and occupied Ukrainian territories, but is not available in Russia.
Ukraine’s armed forces use Starlink for general communications, while Starshield allows drones to be guided over long distances. Ukrainian units have said that losing the connection affects the battlefield in much the same way as an organisation losing access to its Wi-Fi network.
There is currently no direct alternative with comparable coverage. Starlink operates a constellation of about 11,150 satellites, while Amazon’s planned rival network has fewer than 400 satellites in low-Earth orbit.
Dispute over who ordered the slowdown
Mr Musk has said that decisions on speed and usage are made by the US military and ultimately the president. He has described Starlink as a commercial service limited to civilian or defensive activity and said it cannot be used for offensive military action.
However, a report that a decision by Mr Musk had led to the restrictions prompted conflicting accounts from US officials. It remains unclear how any order to curtail access was implemented.
Mr Musk had spoken with administration officials several times while seeking clarity over the president’s position. Some Trump administration officials said the temporary restrictions came as a surprise and that neither Mr Trump nor the Pentagon had specifically ordered a move intended to disrupt Ukrainian drone operations or battlefield communications.
Mr Trump said he was seeking information about who had ordered the slowdown. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “We haven’t made any directives or anything like that.”
Mr Rubio initially said that the president had nothing to do with decisions made by Starlink, Starshield or Mr Musk. He later distinguished Starshield from the civilian service, saying that a network being purchased and used by the US military was “a different matter”.
Separate concerns over intelligence warnings
The disruption occurred at around the same time as Ukraine reported failures in a separate US intelligence warning system. Kyiv relies on American surveillance and other intelligence to identify Russian positions and receive warnings of ballistic missile launches.
Ukraine said it received no advance warning before a Russian missile attack on October 13 that targeted energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv. Six people were killed and about 600,000 were left without power, according to the material provided.
Ukrainian sources said US officials blamed bad weather for the failure, an explanation that Kyiv questioned. Zelenskyy later said there had again been no warning before another wave of Russian missile and drone strikes.
A senior Pentagon official said there had been no change to US policy on intelligence sharing or the capabilities being enabled for European countries to provide to Ukraine. By Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the warning system appeared to have been restored, adding: “Now intelligence works. Thank you so much. That was crucial for us.”
