Ukraine remains unable to use its interceptor systems against Russian drones because of speed restrictions imposed on Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk’s Starlink service, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
The Ukrainian president said the restrictions were preventing his forces from using the satellite technology against jet-powered Shahed drones, amid an escalating dispute involving Donald Trump and Mr Musk.
“Unfortunately, we can’t use Starlink or Starshield technology on our territory today to shoot down jet-powered Shaheds,” Mr Zelenskyy told reporters during an online group chat at an EU summit.
“They fly, and we can stop them with aircraft and other air defence, but we don’t use Starlink for that, unfortunately. God willing, this will be restored.”
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials were in discussions with the US military, the defence department, diplomats and SpaceX. He said they had been told the restrictions were the result of technical problems, although Starlink appeared to operate at higher speeds in the European Union.
“Here in Ukraine Starlink works up to a speed of 161 km/h, then shuts off,” he said. “In the EU it works at 180-plus and works constantly. Here it shuts off in the second minute after 161 km/h and stops working. We lose both drones and connectivity.”
Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in the US, said Kyiv had not received a response from the Pentagon or SpaceX to its inquiries, including confirmation that unlimited speeds had been restored and that Starshield was operating as it had previously.
“Based on the data currently available to us, we cannot confirm that these capabilities have been fully restored,” Mr Sienik said.
Starshield restrictions disputed
Mr Trump said on Friday that he had not limited Ukraine’s access to Starlink and did not believe Mr Musk was responsible.
“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Mr Trump told reporters. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”
Mr Musk has said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US Government, and that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately the president.
Starshield is used by Ukrainian forces to maintain communications and carry out strikes, including by keeping contact with drones over long distances. Ukrainian officials and soldiers said their equipment began experiencing sudden difficulties late on Tuesday, including speed limits that made missions involving fast-moving drones more difficult.
Mr Zelenskyy said the problems had left people vulnerable as Russia carried out a large attack on Ukraine’s energy sector, targeting more than 15 critical power generation and transmission facilities across the country.
The dispute comes as relations between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy have deteriorated. Mr Trump has blamed the war for high global energy prices, while his administration has waived restrictions on buying Russian diesel in an effort to ease pressure.
Mr Zelenskyy described the move as unfortunate and said he believed the lifting of sanctions on Russia would continue. A White House spokeswoman said enforcing the sanctions provisions could impede US efforts to negotiate a durable and comprehensive peace agreement.
Mr Trump has also said Ukraine and Russia agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure in an “energy ceasefire”. Mr Zelenskyy initially said Ukraine was willing to comply, but later said Russian attacks had continued and that Ukraine would no longer hold off from striking Russian refineries. The Russian government did not confirm that it had agreed to a ceasefire.
In an interview on Thursday, Mr Trump called Mr Zelenskyy “not a good guy for us to deal with” and said he was harder to deal with than Vladimir Putin. Mr Musk separately wrote: “Time for Zelensky to go.”
