SpaceX limits Starlink speeds for Ukraine's military, disrupting combat missions
Ukrainian forces lost connectivity on Starlink terminals moving faster than 160 km/h, and officials say no warning was given. Whether Washington requested the limit remains unconfirmed.
What changed for Ukrainian forces
Ukrainian forces lost connectivity on some Starlink terminals overnight, once terminals in motion passed 160 km/h. The limit applies to Starshield, the military package of the service used by Ukraine's armed forces and other security agencies. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed the restriction. He said SpaceX set it at 100 mph, about 160 km/h.
The timing differs by source. The Guardian placed the outage on Tuesday evening, while activist Serhii Sternenko wrote that the restrictions took effect on Wednesday morning. Sternenko, who advised Ukraine's Ministry of Defence until July, said several missions considered critical could not be carried out.
Speed matters because of how the terminals are used. Sources speaking to Ukrainska Pravda said the ordinary Starlink Mini mounted on drones is capped at 160 km/h, so faster drone flights need the Starshield version, which Ukraine has used since 2024 according to public data. Terminals on drones offer long range, resistance to electronic warfare and real-time data for precise guidance.
Missed warning and disrupted missions
Beskrestnov said the armed forces received no warning, and that this led to the failure of a number of missions. He described the timing as more than a coincidence, linking it to the current political situation.
Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions and this led to the failure of a number of missions
A source in the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, deployed on the southeastern front, confirmed that Starlink service was disrupted. Neither the number of affected units nor the length of the outages is known yet.
- Russian ballistic missile strike damages a heating and power plant in Kyiv
- Sternenko says Starlink restrictions for Ukrainian military take effect
- Beskrestnov confirms a 160 km/h speed limit on the Starshield package
Whether Washington asked
Sternenko suggested SpaceX may have acted at the request of the Trump administration. The information published so far does not establish whether Washington made such a request, and SpaceX had not commented. Musk had earlier cut off Starlink service to Ukrainian soldiers during an offensive that took a small amount of Russian territory, according to the Guardian. Earlier this year, after talks between Ukraine's defence ministry and Musk, Kyiv blocked Starlink devices used by Russian forces.
Media reported in late July that Zelenskyy had asked Trump, during a meeting in Washington, to ask Musk for permission for Ukraine to use Starlink in attacks on targets in Russia. No such permission had been granted as of the latest reports. Analyst Jimmy Rushton argued that Starlink does not operate in Russia, so disabling Ukrainian terminals does not protect Russian refineries, while it hampers Ukrainian operations.
Missiles, intelligence and refinery demands
Russia launched ballistic missiles at Ukraine for a second night, the Guardian reported, without advance warning from the US. Ukrainians have said for two days that American intelligence on missile launches has stopped, which hampers air defence interception of ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv. Zelenskyy has suggested, without saying so directly, that the US is withholding that intelligence.
An attack on the evening of 13 October damaged a heating and power plant in Kyiv, one of the city's largest energy facilities. Trump has demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries, which he blamed for high diesel costs, although most analysts say the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a far larger impact on global energy prices. On 9 October Trump said he had agreed with Vladimir Putin a fuel deal for 300,000 tonnes of diesel for immediate supply.