Ukraine Says Starlink Starshield Speeds Are Back to Normal
Ukraine's defense minister signaled that military Starlink service is back to normal after ten days of throttling that Zelenskyy called painful and frustrating.
Ukraine says the speed limit on its military internet service has been lifted. A message from Defense Minister Evgeniy Khmara on Saturday morning indicated that Starlink's Starshield service was back to normal after ten days of throttling, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The slowdown began on October 14. Ukrainian drones reportedly started losing connectivity at the speeds needed to chase certain Russian drones. On October 16, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the reduced speed meant Ukraine could not intercept a number of attacks. "We couldn't use a tool that helps protect people. That's very painful and frustrating," he said. He added that Starlink was not turned off, only slowed, and that it is used to intercept jet-powered Shahed drones, not for operations inside Russia.
Who ordered the limit?
The episode followed tension over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. On October 10, President Trump said Zelenskyy had "better damn well stop," and Elon Musk posted that Zelenskyy had "gone too far."
Musk first said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government and that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Trump said neither he nor Musk was responsible. Later reporting based on anonymous sources, which the Journal published on October 20, said Musk himself gave the order to impose the limit.
What comes next
On Wednesday, Trump reportedly called Musk and asked him to lift the restriction. Reports on Friday still suggested service had not been fully restored, and Trump told reporters, "I've heard it was fixed, but if it's not, I'll speak to him."
The Journal says Ukraine was still testing high-speed drones as of Friday and that the US has not explained the slowdown. The episode shows how dependent Ukraine's air defense has become on a commercial network controlled by a single company. SpaceX had not responded to a request for comment.
