Ukraine Regains Full Starlink Speed After Ten-Day Disruption

Ukrainian officials confirmed on Saturday that military units have regained a stable connection to Starlink. This marks the end of a ten-day disruption that began in early October. The government stated that satellite speeds have returned to the levels required for frontline operations.

The satellite terminals are manufactured by Elon Musk’s SpaceX but managed by the US government. They serve as a critical component of Ukrainian military communications. When speed limits were suddenly applied, they capped operations at 160 kilometers per hour. This restriction caused several combat missions to fail and hindered the interception of Russian attack drones. Some strikes on targets behind enemy lines were cancelled.

The speed caps also affected intelligence sharing. Russia launched ballistic missiles at Ukraine without prior warning from the US during the outage. The timing of the restrictions coincided with President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal to purchase Russian diesel.

Washington and SpaceX initially offered conflicting explanations for the outage. Trump denied that his administration was behind the decision to cut intelligence sharing. He stated, "I don't know if it was anybody, but it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon." Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the decision lay with Musk, noting that the president does not run the company. Musk countered that the systems are owned by the US government and that the US military sets usage limits. Vice President JD Vance supported Musk, arguing the billionaire does not want to direct military operations without explicit government orders.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attributed the disruption to a coordinated effort. He said, "It was a message from [the] American government to limit the speed, and technically, SpaceX did it." He pointed out that Starshield terminals in European Union countries faced no similar restrictions. Zelenskyy described the event as a planned operation and warned that it would result in human losses.

Earlier in the week, the status of the network remained unclear. Trump claimed on Thursday that service was back to full speed, but a European official told the Associated Press that it was not fully functioning. Trump said on Friday that he might need to speak with Musk to resolve the issue. He added, "If there is a problem, I'll get it straightened out."

Zelenskyy announced the restoration in a video address on Telegram. He thanked US allies, including the State Department and Trump, for resolving the problem. The restoration began overnight, and speeds were sufficient for operational use by morning. This allows the military to manage frontline logistics and defend against jet-powered Shahed drones.