Starlink Speeds Fully Restored in Ukraine After Weeklong Disruption, Relief on the Front Line
Starlink and Starshield satellite speeds are fully back in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, following more than a week of disruptions and slowdowns that they say hampered military defence operations.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry said in a statement that its monitoring systems have officially recorded the restoration of Starlink-Starshield performance. According to the statement, connection with the satellites remains stable even at movement speeds above 400 kilometres per hour.
The satellite system is run through Elon Musk's company SpaceX. After the slowdown, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had called on President Donald Trump and other United States officials to help restore the system.
Following talks with US officials, Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the early warning system had resumed. He said at the time, however, that it took a while for speeds to reach their previous levels. Saturday's statement confirmed that full restoration.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara said in a statement on Saturday: 'This is another example of how direct dialogue and the firm position of the President of Ukraine at the highest level can deliver results. And this result is especially important for the front line, for our troops, drone operations, logistics and communications.'
According to Zelenskyy, the imposition of speed limits on Starshield and Starlink-supported networks endangered Ukrainians by inhibiting the flight of their military's offensive and defensive capabilities in Russia-controlled Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, Russia has launched several attacks against Ukraine in the last two weeks. According to Ukrainian officials, a deadly attack on an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia killed 20 people, including three children. It was against that backdrop that the satellite disruption caused Kyiv added concern.
The Trump administration, however, denied ordering a slowdown in Starshield and Starlink-supported networks. Administration officials pointed to Elon Musk's SpaceX for the change.
Asked by reporters on October 16, President Trump said: 'I didn't do that. No, we didn't do that at all.' He added that the infrastructure was 'probably functional.' On Friday he said he had not spoken to Musk about the situation, but would do so if the disruption continued, and that he had heard it was fixed.
In a post on X last week, Musk addressed the government's relationship to Starlink and its missile-tracking Starshield programme. 'Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,' he wrote. On Starlink, he added that it is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX, limited to civilian or defensive activities, and cannot be used for offensive military action.
The story does not end there. A bipartisan group of US senators last week requested that the independent inspector general at the Pentagon launch an official probe into the Starlink disruptions.
With speeds now fully restored, Ukraine's front-line communications and drone operations have regained some relief for the moment. But the call for a probe, and the exchanges between Washington and Kyiv, suggest the argument over what caused the disruption may continue for some time.
