“Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation and this led to the disruption of several missions.” That was Serhiy Beskrestnov, the Zelenskyy adviser on military technology known as “Flash”, writing on Telegram on October 14. His target was SpaceX. Overnight, he said, the company had capped the speed of Starlink terminals in motion, and Ukrainian drone units found out when their missions started failing.
Beskrestnov said the cap applies to the Starshield “military service package” and sits at 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour). Above it, the connection drops.
Drones that cannot keep up
The Kyiv Independent reported that Ukraine leans on Starlink for its “middle strike” campaign against targets in Russian-occupied territory and for interceptor drones that go after Russia’s new jet-powered attack drones. A Defense Ministry source told the paper the limit “complicates drone missions” and hampers frontline logistics, reconnaissance and signal relay. Ukraine’s 7th Air Assault Corps described its connection as being throttled. One drone unit in the Huliaipole sector had already cancelled a number of missions by midday, the corps said.
The speed mattered because of what Ukraine is trying to catch. Snopes, citing the Associated Press, noted that Russian Shahed-class drones can fly at more than 250 mph. A drone held to 100 mph cannot chase one down.
Later on October 14, former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said service was coming back, speed limit included. “Attack drones and interceptor drones should be operational again,” he wrote. The Defense Ministry confirmed the connection had stabilised but said SpaceX “continues to maintain the 161 km/h limit.” Through the day the real speeds had been lower still.
Who gave the order?
Nobody has proved it. Beskrestnov called the timing no accident. “Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation,” he said, though he offered no evidence. Sternenko, a Ukrainian volunteer, suggested SpaceX may have acted at the request of the Trump administration. Euronews pointed out that no independent evidence shows the White House ordered anything.
The political backdrop was ugly. Reports said Washington had threatened to suspend intelligence sharing unless Kyiv stopped hitting Russian oil refineries, a claim Washington denied. Days earlier Elon Musk had written on X that “Zelenskyy has gone too far.” That same night Russia sent 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions at Kyiv, its surrounding region and Kharkiv, according to Zelenskyy, leaving at least 600,000 people without power.
Musk gave his own account. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately (the president),” he wrote, adding that Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action.
The finger-pointing went on for days. Snopes recorded that Reuters, on October 15, reported Pentagon officials received an order to limit Starshield “from inside the White House.” The Telegraph and the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and Musk had discussed slowing the speeds. Snopes could not verify any of it, since all three rested on anonymous sources. Trump said on October 16, “I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon.” Rubio said on October 18, “We had nothing to do with it.” Zelenskyy, on NBC the same day, said the message came from the American government and “technically, SpaceX did it.”
By October 24 Zelenskyy was saying on X that Starlink and Starshield speeds were “where they need to be.”
Sources
- Reports: SpaceX Limits Starlink, Disrupting Ukrainian Military Missions — IJR News
- Starlink terminals operations restricted in Ukraine overnight, adviser to Zelenskyy says | Euronews
- 'This cannot be a coincidence' – Ukraine's Starlink access restricted without warning, Zelensky adviser says | Kyiv Independent
- Who ordered Starlink, Starshield slowdown in Ukraine? What we know | Snopes
