Ukraine’s Starlink connection is still running below full strength, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, more than a week after Ukrainian drone crews first noticed the slowdown. His comments, reported by the German news agency dpa, come as Washington and SpaceX still trade conflicting accounts of who set the speed limit.
The dispute matters on the battlefield. Ukraine relies on the satellite network to keep its strike and interceptor drones connected as they fly, and a cap on speed can leave faster aircraft unable to hold their link.
What Zelensky says
Zelensky said tests in several European countries showed the slowdown affected only Ukraine, which he said proves it was a planned operation. By his account, the satellites stop tracking antennas on anything moving faster than about 161 kilometers per hour, or 100 mph. His team drove cars at 180 km/h in EU countries and kept their connection. Ukrainian military sources quoted in Kyiv media said the service was working without limits, so the picture on the ground is not uniform.
Zelensky added that Ukraine’s Defense Ministry received signals from the White House that service would be restored to earlier levels.
Who ordered it?
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter, that Elon Musk ordered the speed cap on Oct. 14 and discussed it with President Donald Trump by phone after the slowdown became public. Some U.S. officials told the Journal that Musk acted alone. A separate source said he spoke with several senior administration officials, including Trump, before the limit took effect. Musk has said that any limits on Starshield, the military version of the service, are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president, and he has stressed that Starlink is a commercial product meant for civilian or defensive use.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the White House made no directive and that decisions about Starlink and Starshield rest with Musk’s company. Trump said he did not order it, and later said he did not know who did but wanted to find out. Our earlier report covers Reuters’ account that the order came from inside the White House.
What is at stake
Carnegie Endowment analyst Michael Kofman told the Journal that Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones remain limited to about 160 km/h, and that the connection speed available is below 130 km/h. Kyiv wants the cap lifted entirely, saying interceptor drones need links that work at up to 450 km/h to catch Russian jet-powered drones, which can reach about 300 km/h.
The fight has also reached Congress. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said the restrictions must stop immediately because lives are at stake, and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis publicly asked Musk to explain the disruptions. Neither SpaceX nor the White House has said when full service will return.
