Key facts
- Zelenskyy said Ukrainian drones could not fly faster than 161km/h for five days, losing connections at higher speeds.
- Zelenskyy said the speed limits stopped Ukraine intercepting jet-powered Russian Shahed drones and hit mid-range strikes on occupied territory.
- Zelenskyy said SpaceX told Ukraine's defense ministry it was imposing no restrictions and called it a technical issue.
- Zelenskyy said he asked his military leadership to raise the matter with SpaceX, the Pentagon and the US state department.
- Zelenskyy said Kushner and Witkoff asked whether Ukraine would cede the Donbas for Nato membership or Nato-like guarantees.
- Zelenskyy said Denmark pledged ammunition for F-16 jets and energy support packages after talks with European leaders in Dublin.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday, November 13, 2026, that SpaceX had not been honest about its reasons for restricting Ukraine's Starshield satellite system, saying the limits appeared political rather than technical. Speaking to the Guardian and other journalists at the presidential palace in Kyiv, Ukraine's president said the restrictions had been in place for five days.
Ukrainian drones could no longer fly at speeds above 161km/h (100mph), Zelenskyy said, with connections at higher speeds lost. As a result, he said, incoming jet-powered Russian Shahed drones could no longer be intercepted, and Ukraine's own mid-range strikes against military targets in Russian-occupied territory were severely affected.
Zelenskyy said he had asked his military leadership to raise the issue with Elon Musk's SpaceX, as well as with the Pentagon and the US state department. He said there was no clear explanation for the throttling, and that SpaceX had told Kyiv there were no restrictions, a claim he suggested was untrue given problems detected across the entire frontline.
"There have been discussions with the company at the institutional level. The ministry of defence spoke with SpaceX. They replied: 'We are not imposing any restrictions.' They say it is some kind of technical issue. We do not believe that is the case," Zelenskyy said. He added that Ukraine tests the problem in different directions every day and gets the same confirmation, so the cases are widespread rather than isolated.
Ukraine suspects the slowdown is a deliberate US tactic to pressure Zelenskyy into concessions to Russia's Vladimir Putin, according to the report. It follows a similar issue last month and coincided with US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi last week featuring Ukrainian and Russian representatives.