Khmara Says Starlink Speeds Exceed 400km/h After Days of Throttling

Ukraine's military has relied on satellite links to fly drones and coordinate troops across front lines where ground infrastructure is thin.

Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on Saturday that Starlink access is stable again after days of restricted connectivity, and that speeds above 400km/h are available on the network. "This result is above all important for our front, for our soldiers, for the operation of drones, for logistics and for communications," he said.

Kyiv uses Starlink and its military counterpart Starshield to pilot drones and run operations inside Ukraine. The military draws on the network of 10,000 low Earth orbit satellites, particularly in remote parts of the battlefield, and employs both the civilian service and the more secure Starshield. Musk has said Starshield is controlled by the US military and suggested the Pentagon could be behind the recent problems.

Ukrainian officials accused US President Donald Trump last week of instructing SpaceX owner Elon Musk to impose limits. Under those restrictions, drones reportedly lost connection at speeds of 161km/h or higher. Trump denied issuing such an instruction but later said Musk had "put it back". Zelensky said the US also threatened to withdraw intelligence sharing if strikes on Russian oil infrastructure did not stop; Trump denied that too.

The dispute surfaced during a wider disagreement between Trump and Zelensky over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities. Trump argues the strikes have lifted global prices, while Kyiv says they cut Moscow's main war revenue. With midterm elections due next month, Trump has waived some Russia sanctions and agreed a deal to import Russian diesel for the US market; Ukraine and its European allies have criticized that move. Russia is not authorized to use Starlink, so the network does not function when Ukraine sends long-range missiles or drones deep into Russian territory to strike oil refineries.

Fighting continues. Russia's defense ministry said on Telegram on Saturday that its air defenses downed 616 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones that hit regions including Russian-annexed Crimea. Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-backed governor there, said restrictions on electricity and water were introduced after a strike caused power cuts. Ukrainian authorities said they hit a missile component manufacturer, a chemical plant and an aircraft at a military airfield inside Russia over the past 24 hours. They also said Russia carried out 88 air strikes on Friday, using 309 glide bombs and 10,270 kamikaze drones.

Strikes on Russian refineries have affected global fuel prices, though increases seen this year are mainly due to the Iran war.