Key facts
- A Ukrainian Defense Ministry source said restrictions were recorded only over Russian-occupied territory, not over Ukrainian-held land.
- Zelensky said the limits made it impossible to use interceptors against Shahed-type drones along the front line.
- SpaceX told Axios the reports were false and that there had been no change to the system.
- The bipartisan Ukraine Caucus, comprising 105 lawmakers, urged full restoration of Ukrainian military Starshield access.
- A Ukrainian corps-level commander in Donetsk Oblast said the 160-kilometer-per-hour limit was still in place.
Ukraine is seeking an explanation from the United States after reports that the Starshield satellite communications system, the militarized version of Starlink, was subject to speed restrictions, a source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told journalists on November 13. SpaceX, which produces the system, denied the reports to Axios, saying: "This is false. There has been no change."
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 13 that Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi were in contact with the US side. In a post on X on November 12, Zelensky said the military had faced significant disruptions for several days and that restrictions limited Starshield's operating speed to 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour).
Zelensky said the restrictions applied over Russian-occupied territory and along the front line, making it "impossible" to use interceptors against Shahed-type drones. He said some Russian strikes had succeeded because Ukrainian interceptor systems could not reach the necessary speed. The Defense Ministry source said restrictions were recorded only over territory occupied by Russia, not over territory controlled by Ukraine.
The bipartisan Ukraine Caucus in the US House of Representatives, comprising 105 lawmakers, called on November 12 for the administration of President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk to fully restore the Ukrainian military's Starshield access. A Ukrainian corps-level commander fighting in Donetsk Oblast told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity that the 160-kilometer-per-hour limit was still in place, and a senior member of a Ukrainian military unit in the Unmanned Systems Forces confirmed the development.