Donald Trump called Elon Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on the military version of Starlink in Ukraine, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
Trump expressed frustration that the system still had a speed cap of about 160 kilometers per hour, the newspaper’s sources said. The restriction left some Ukrainian attack drones and interceptor drones ineffective against Russian attacks. The Journal reported that Trump and Musk spoke after it published a report saying Musk himself had ordered the restrictions on Starlink in Ukraine.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials said the system began working “more normally” shortly after Trump’s conversation with Musk.
Ukrainian drone commanders on the front line said the Starlink restrictions had been lifted, according to Oliver Carroll, a journalist for The Economist. “They are still doing tests but ‘this looks to be the case,’” Carroll wrote.
On October 14, the Ukrainian military reported encountering restrictions on Starlink satellite communications terminals — specifically, their military version, Starshield. Drones lost their connection when flying faster than 160 kilometers per hour.
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