Ukrainian military officials have reported that Starlink has placed restrictions on certain internet services they rely on, a development that comes amid a period of strained relations between Kyiv and the Trump administration. Officials in Kyiv reported that the access limitations placed on Starshield — the defence-grade variant of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network — came without prior notice to their side.
According to SpaceX chief executive Musk, who posted the remarks on his platform X, Starshield operates under full ownership and authority of the federal government, with any restrictions on its speed or use resting with the military and the president, whereas Starlink functions as a commercially held service under SpaceX's authority, restricted to civilian or defensive purposes. Musk maintained that Starlink was not available for offensive military operations, describing such use as unsuitable for a privately held company, while two officials familiar with the matter indicated that the decision to withhold Ukrainian access to Starshield had not been made at a senior level of government policy.
The outlet's request for a White House response to Musk's statements about Starshield had not been answered at the time of publication.
Details about the speed restrictions built into Starshield terminals reached the Ukrainian military only after its personnel lodged a complaint through SpaceX customer support channels, with no advance notice having been given by the company, a source indicated. According to the source, the speed threshold at which a Starlink terminal drops contact with connected assets — set at 100 miles per hour — was conveyed to Ukraine as the boundary above which the restrictions on vehicles and other military hardware take effect. Interceptor drones and mid-range strike drones — two categories central to Ukraine's aerial operations — face added operational hurdles as a result, multiple sources have indicated.
Front-line logistics, communications, and reconnaissance are among the operational areas affected, along with the ability to run fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing platforms. A defence ministry representative conveyed to a broadcaster that front-line positions and occupied areas would bear the brunt of the changes, adding that supply chains, drone operations, ground force movements, and medium-range strike capabilities would all face added strain — remarks echoed by a military source who noted that personnel had been anticipating exactly this kind of development.
A person with direct operational knowledge of Starlink's day-to-day effects told a broadcaster that connectivity problems had proved considerable, and that a detailed review of those disruptions was under way. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Kyiv has asked SpaceX to explain the shift in terms and to outline how the connectivity levels previously available under the old agreement might be reinstated, pointing to the role Starshield access plays in ongoing operations. A federal contract covered those arrangements through to mid-May 2027. No reply from SpaceX had been received by Kyiv at the time of the report, according to the source.
According to that account, Ukraine's defence ministry has been holding talks with the United States, SpaceX, and NATO partners while also evaluating and rolling out alternative communication systems. Lawmakers in the United States were briefed on difficulties surrounding Starshield, according to a broadcast news outlet that cited a source familiar with the matter.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Starlink disruption had given Russian forces an operational opening they were actively using. Zelensky described the combined toll of 124 overnight drone launches and a further 145 dispatched during daylight hours as among the heaviest aerial bombardments recorded, adding in a post on X that connectivity gaps in Starlink — a system his forces' interceptor drones rely on — appeared to be a factor adversaries were seeking to exploit. That disruption, he noted, was compounding separate difficulties the government had flagged around the timely flow of intelligence from allied partners about incoming missile threats.
His presidential adviser Beskrestnov had separately noted that Starlink connectivity also underpins the operation of interceptor drones deployed to shield Ukrainian airspace against Russia's jet-powered attack drones.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening, Zelensky said his administration had received no advance notice from allied partners before a ballistic missile attack took down a major power facility in Kyiv and left a nearby residential building with damage. Tracking data on launcher positions and projected flight paths — supplied by the United States and allied partners — forms part of the early-warning network that Ukrainian forces draw on to counter incoming ballistic missiles.
Ballistic missiles of the type deployed by Russia cover the distance to Kyiv fast enough that warning systems have, in a number of documented instances, registered the first detonations at virtually the same moment alert sirens began to sound. Over an extended period, Zelensky has repeatedly pressed allied nations to strengthen Ukraine's defensive capabilities against aerial threats, with a particular focus on obtaining interceptors capable of countering ballistic missiles.
The Starlink restrictions followed an advisory from the administration that intelligence-sharing arrangements and European procurement of American-supplied arms for Ukraine faced possible suspension unless Kyiv brought its long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure to a halt. Earlier that Tuesday, Trump told reporters that intelligence-sharing with Ukraine had not been halted, stating that assistance and the flow of information to Kyiv were both continuing. He told reporters that ending the conflict was the goal, and that efforts involving both parties — including Russia — were under way toward that aim.
In a post on X that Saturday, Musk took aim at the Ukrainian president, stating that attacks on Russian fuel facilities had gone beyond what he considered acceptable.
Zelensky reported that a large-scale strike on Ukrainian energy facilities had left over 600,000 people without electricity by early Wednesday. Over 120 drones and 39 ballistic missiles were directed at Kyiv and Kharkiv, with energy infrastructure — including oil and gas facilities — bearing the brunt of the assault, leaving portions of both cities without power and drawing official reports of considerable damage. Regional officials across multiple affected areas reported that the overnight and early Wednesday strikes left at least 10 people dead and dozens more with injuries.
Zelensky noted in his statement that the sites targeted were the same ones falling under the energy truce that Trump had put forward the previous weekend, and argued that the destruction of the country's energy infrastructure by Russian forces was compounded by Ukraine's lack of advance notice about ballistic missile launches, which he described as unjust.
A strike on Ukrainian energy facilities by Russia has put the "energy ceasefire" arrangement — announced by Trump on Sunday — under renewed scrutiny, with reports indicating that neither Kyiv nor Moscow had prior knowledge of the proposal. Speaking after the announcement, Zelensky expressed backing for the ceasefire arrangement, noting that no prior notification had reached him before it was made public. Zelensky reported by Monday that new strikes had already broken the truce terms Moscow had agreed to, while indicating he remained prepared to honour the arrangement should Russia do the same.
When reporters put the question to Trump on Tuesday — asking whether Russia had violated ceasefire conditions — he indicated his view on the matter would come at a later time, according to one news outlet.
After days of public silence, Moscow issued a statement on Wednesday raising questions about the details of the proposed "energy ceasefire" plan put forward by Washington, while indicating that talks on the matter remained active — a development unfolding as both parties have carried out repeated attacks on each other's power and fuel infrastructure in recent months, even as front lines on the ground have held largely static.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that no additional details were available to Russia regarding the disruptions affecting Starlink service in Ukraine. Peskov noted that the Kremlin was tracking reports of shifting American backing for Ukraine with care, though he stopped short of drawing broader conclusions.
On Wednesday, Zelensky held two separate rounds of talks in London — one with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and another with King Charles. Appearing with Burnham at a Downing Street press briefing, Zelensky characterised the restrictions placed on Starlink as regrettable and stated that Ukraine continues to rely on its partnership with the United States.
The defence ministry in Moscow reported to Interfax that 902 unmanned aerial vehicles had been brought down across a single overnight period.
