SpaceX, not US authorities, imposed the Starshield restrictions, - Zelenskyy
In the temporarily occupied part of Ukraine, service disruptions for Starshield have been reported for the fifth consecutive day. In Kyiv, officials believe this decision was made by SpaceX.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made this statement to reporters, according to Censor.NET, citing RBC-Ukraine.
Political undertones
According to the head of state, a Starshield speed limit—a maximum of 161 km/h—is in effect in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, there are no such restrictions in the territory controlled by Ukraine.
Zelenskyy considers this situation dangerous not only from a military standpoint but also from a political one. According to him, if the restrictions apply specifically to the occupied territories, this could give the impression that they are not considered part of Ukraine.
"If they have reverted to the decision that there are no restrictions on Ukrainian territory, but restrictions remain in place in the temporarily occupied territories, then such a decision is very dangerous, because it already sounds political. If you impose restrictions there, then you are already partially refusing to recognize the temporarily occupied territories as ours," he explained.
The president emphasized that Kyiv will continue to raise this issue and push for the lifting of the restrictions.
"The Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Drapatiy—all must raise this issue within their respective areas of responsibility," he said.
Zelenskyy also noted that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has already been in contact with SpaceX. The company responded that it had not imposed any restrictions and suggested that the problem might be technical in nature.
However, the Ukrainian side does not agree with this explanation. According to Zelenskyy, restrictions have been in place for five days now, and checks are being conducted daily along various routes. In his view, this indicates that the problem is not an isolated incident.
The president recalled his previous conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to Zelenskyy, following that conversation, Ukraine had no issues with early warnings of ballistic missile strikes, the exchange of intelligence, or the operation of Starlink and Starshield.
Who is responsible for the restrictions?
During that conversation, Rubio explained that Starshield is subject to greater oversight by U.S. authorities than SpaceX is. However, according to the Ukrainian team, the current restrictions indicate that the decision was made by the company itself.
"Starshield's statement now suggests that SpaceX was responsible. That's what our team is telling me. In other words, this doesn't quite match what we've heard before. So we need to get to the bottom of this," Zelenskyy said.
A Strike Against the Interception of "Shahed" Drones
The head of state explained that the Starshield restrictions are making it more difficult for the Ukrainian military to intercept Russian "Shahed" drones.
These drones are approaching from the east, so it is important to destroy them while they are still in the temporarily occupied territory, preventing them from reaching areas under Ukraine’s control.
In particular, Starshield is used to operate the Ukrainian "Bars" missiles, which are used to intercept jet-powered drones. Due to certain limitations, it is no longer possible to deploy them as effectively near the front lines.
"Now we can't shoot them down there, near the front lines. We have to shoot them down on other fronts, and that gives the Russians more opportunities to attack," the president concluded.
What led up to it
- As a reminder, on November 12, Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces are detecting significant disruptions in Starshield’s operation over Ukrainian territory: along the entire front line and in the temporarily occupied territory. The restrictions are triggered at speeds of 161 kilometers per hour or higher.
- He stated that "someone in America" is making decisions regarding Ukrainian territory as if it were not Ukrainian.
- The European Commission called on the American company SpaceX to resume operations of the Starshield satellite communication system in Ukraine as soon as possible.
- The first instance of Starshield's operations being restricted occurred in mid-October 2026. This hampered the use of interceptor drones to combat Russian drones, as well as reconnaissance and strike operations.
