There are significant disruptions to StarShield’s operation over Ukraine: along entire front line and in TOT, – Zelenskyy

Starshield is once again restricted over Ukraine: details

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that disruptions have been detected in Starshield’s operations over Ukrainian territory.

The head of state made this announcement on Telegram, according to Censor.NET.

What is known?

"There have been reports from Ukraine’s Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi. Unfortunately, for several days now, our units have been recording significant malfunctions in the operation of Starshield over Ukrainian territory: along the entire front line and in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine," the message states.

According to Zelenskyy, there are systematic speed restrictions on Starshield set at 161 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour).

"The Ukrainian military has already investigated the circumstances of this, and these are not random errors but a systematic speed limit. For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet drones.

Unfortunately, there have already been hits because the interceptors cannot reach sufficient speed and do not manage to intercept the drones in time. Regrettably, this is helping the Russians to kill more Ukrainians and inflict more precise strikes on Ukraine. We are trying to clarify all the circumstances with the American side," he concluded.

What led up to this?

On 14 October, volunteer and former adviser to the Minister of Defence Serhii Sternenko stated that, during the night, SpaceX had restricted the operation of Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military. As a result, he said, "a number of important missions were disrupted". The restrictions were imposed on data transmission depending on the speed of the UAVs using Starlink.
This information was subsequently confirmed by Serhii Beskrestnov (Flash). According to him, the restrictions may also complicate the use of drones designed to intercept jet-powered ‘shahids’.
Units of the 7th Airborne Corps also reported that they began to experience problems with Starlink connectivity in the Huliaipole sector last night. This concerns the Starshield package – the so-called military package, which previously had no data transmission speed restrictions.
Later, former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated that network operations were being restored at speeds of up to 160 km/h.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk stated that he does not set the limits for Starshield, which Ukraine uses. This system is controlled by the US government, not SpaceX.
According to Reuters, the order to restrict Starshield for Ukraine came from the White House.
On 16 October, US President Trump stated that Washington was not involved in slowing down the ‘military package’ of the Starlink (Starshield) satellite communications system for the Ukrainian military.
On 19 October, Zelenskyy reported that, in various sectors of the front line, Ukrainian military equipment fitted with the Starlink system was ceasing to function at speeds of 130–161 kilometres per hour.
Hegseth stated that the Pentagon had not issued any orders to restrict Starshield.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had telephoned Musk and asked him to lift the restrictions on the military version of Starlink in Ukraine, whilst on Thursday Trump said that "the main thing is that he’s put everything back the way it was" and declined to comment on whether he had phoned Musk.
On 22 October, Trump declined to say whether he had telephoned SpaceX owner Elon Musk regarding the speed restrictions on the military version of Starlink in Ukraine.
According to Politico, as of the morning of Friday, 23 October, the Ukrainian military were still facing Starlink speed restrictions, despite Trump’s announcement that the services had resumed full operation.
24 October
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence stated that StarLink terminals and their military variants, StarShield, from SpaceX were once again operating at speeds exceeding 161 km/h.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed the restoration of Starlink services for Ukraine.