“It’s a big mistake. People will die.”
That was Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s frank assessment on Wednesday of the effect of the Pentagon’s new “speed limit” that it has imposed, apparently on purpose, on Ukraine’s military.
On Thursday morning, Ukrainian tech blogger and presidential adviser Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov revealed on Telegram that “as of last night, SpaceX has implemented speed restrictions for Starlink terminals while in motion. Currently, this restriction applies to the military Starshield service tier and is set at a speed of 100 miles per hour.”
In layman’s terms, it was the removal of a vital part of Ukraine’s military tech stack. Without it, there was a gaping hole in Ukraine’s military capacity. And Russia quickly took advantage.
“Russia launched 124 drones overnight alone, and another 145 during the day,” Zelensky said on Wednesday evening on social media. “They attack energy infrastructure, logistics, and railways.
“In terms of scale, this is one of the largest attacks. It is clear that the Russians are trying to take advantage of the problems with Starlink in Ukraine, as our interceptor drones depend on this connection among other things.”
Later on Thursday Ukraine’s defence minister said the speed limit had been increased, but was still being imposed – and Elon Musk publicly sheeted the blame directly to Donald Trump.
What is Starshield?
Starshield is a military-grade communications network built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, designed for use by governments “to support national security efforts”. It costs roughly five times as much to use as the company’s consumer and commercial Starlink service.
Musk emphasises the two are separate, and that Starlink cannot be used for offensive military operations. But Starshield uses much of the same technology, and governments have reportedly used both systems for military purposes, despite Musk’s regular complaints.
Last month Reuters reported the UK has spent about £13 million on Starshield, including terminals and airtime, and £16.5 million on Starlink.
The MOD said it adopted Starshield after SpaceX mandated that Starlink only be used for morale, welfare, recreation and training purposes. It said Starshield offers “enhanced encryption [and] military-specific terms of service”.
What is the ‘speed limit’ and why does it matter?
The basic Starlink service doesn’t work if a user is moving: the company charges extra for “roam” plans that support in-motion use up to 100mph (160kmh), and a special “aviation” plan that works up to 300mph (482kmh).
The tech specs of Starshield have not been publicly revealed, but it is likely to operate at at least Starlink’s “aviation” speed.
Beskrestnov said a new, lower speed limit was applied on Tuesday night to the Starshield service with “no prior warning”. Some forces reported losing signals at speeds as low as 44mph, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Ukraine’s minister of defence, Mykhailo Fedorov, later wrote on social media that “Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored. Removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine’s defense.”
He added “Thankyou Elon Musk, we hope for your continued support”.
Musk replied “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 [Donald Trump].”
Restricting Starshield to “roam” speeds means that Ukraine’s aerial drones must either move more slowly, making them easier to shoot down or evade, or operate without connectivity, reducing their accuracy.
Beskrestnov said it “led to the disruption of several missions”, affecting “long range missions and frontline logistics”. However it was unlikely to affect Ukrainian attacks on Russia, which were already reportedly barred from using Starshield and instead relied on other guidance systems.
The Wall Street Journal reported the lack of connectivity prevented a successful drone strike on a Russian ammunition store within Ukraine, and interfered with Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russia’s high-speed jet-powered drones.
Beskrestnov confirmed this, saying “Starlink is used in what is currently the most effective solution—interceptor systems—for defending our skies against jet-powered Shaheds [Iranian drones used by Russia].
“In effect, by taking these actions, our partners are depriving us of one of the few chances we have to defend the country against jet-powered Shaheds.”
‘Somebody pushed him’
Zelensky said the speed limit was killing Ukrainians, as Starlink helped guide the “very quick” drones that intercept incoming Russian attacks.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, released on Wednesday evening, he admitted being angry with Musk.
“This decision will bring a lot of human losses,” he said. “People are dying because of his decision.”
He said he did not know if it was Musk’s decision or “somebody pushed him”.
“Our soldiers, when we got this information at night, they tried to make connection with SpaceX and … with the American partners, with generals.
“We asked what’s going on, maybe technical problems et cetera. They said, no, no, we don’t think that this is technical problem.”
‘No warning’
Zelensky has highlighted another issue hampering Ukraine’s defence: the US has stopped reliably sharing intelligence of incoming attacks.
“Yesterday, unfortunately, Kyiv was hit by ballistic missiles, and we received no warning from our partners about this attack,” he said, in his evening address on Tuesday. “Usually, we do receive such warnings, and they are extremely important – they help us defend ourselves.
“Our Armed Forces detected them only seconds before impact. And that is precisely why we tell our partners that their cooperation with Ukraine provides greater protection for life, allows us to save more people.”
In the Morgan interview, Zelensky said the intelligence failures had been blamed on a “technical problem” by the US.
“They said that we had some technical problems, now it will work, but half of the night, it again, it again didn’t work,” he said.
CBS reported that American officials told their Ukrainian counterparts the system used to detect Russian missile launches had failed due to “bad weather”.
But Ukraine is sceptical of this excuse, after media reports the US had threatened to stop sharing intelligence and to halt weapons sales if Ukraine does not stop deep strikes against Russian energy infrastructure.
Donald Trump said Washington was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine,
“We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end, so we’re working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end,” Trump said.
But it is evidence is mounting that Trump’s commitment to the defence of Ukraine against Putin is waning.