Widespread restrictions on Starshield are preventing Defence Forces from shooting down jet-powered drones near front line, - Chargé d’Affaires Senik

Starlink is once again not working as it should

It has become more difficult for Ukrainian defenders to intercept Russian jet-powered UAVs near the front line due to serious disruptions to SpaceX’s Starshield system, which have now been ongoing for five days.

This was stated in a comment to Radio Free Europe by Denis Senik, Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, according to Censor.NET.

What did the diplomat say?

As of today, I can confirm that the restrictions are in place. These are not isolated incidents; they are widespread. As a result, we can only intercept Russian jet-powered UAVs after they have entered territory controlled by Ukraine. Consequently, we cannot shoot them down immediately near the front line. This gives the Russians additional leverage that they did not previously have," said Senik.

According to him, units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces, in particular crews operating the "Bars" systems, are using Starshield to destroy Shahed-type jet drones; however, due to the current restrictions, they are forced to wait for enemy targets to approach the next lines of defence. The diplomat added that the Ukrainian side conducts daily tests of the system in several directions and obtains the same result.

Ukrainian officials speaking to the publication on condition of anonymity noted that SpaceX had attributed the malfunctions to technical issues and assured them that there were no artificial limits, whilst leaving unanswered a follow-up question regarding the operation of terminals in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

As previously reported, Zelenskyy stated the day before that the restrictions on Starshield had been imposed by SpaceX, not the US authorities

Background

As a reminder, on 12 November, Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces were detecting significant disruptions to the operation of Starshield over Ukrainian territory: along the entire front line and in the temporarily occupied territory. The restrictions are triggered at speeds of 161 kilometres per hour.
He stated that "someone in America" is making decisions regarding Ukrainian territory as if it were not Ukrainian.
The European Commission has called on the American company SpaceX to restore Starshield satellite communications in Ukraine as soon as possible.
The first instance of restrictions on Starshield’s operations occurred in mid-October 2026. This hampered the use of interceptor drones to combat Russian drones, as well as reconnaissance and strike operations.