Ukraine said its access to the Starlink and Starshield communications network had resumed Saturday after days of limited access and questions over who had ordered the restrictions.
Ukraine's Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara said a high-speed, stable connection to the satellite network had returned, with the restoration "particularly important for our front line, for the military, drone operations, logistics and communications."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement that access had been restored to previous levels, and thanked "all Americans," including lawmakers, the State Department and President Donald Trump.
Ukraine's access to Starshield, the militarized version of SpaceX-operated Starlink, had been disrupted since last week, impeding Ukraine's strike campaign on Russian-occupied territory. It was not clear who had ordered the interruptions: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Starshield systems were controlled by the U.S. government, while Trump administration officials denied any involvement.
On Thursday, Trump described his relationship with Musk as "a very good one" and said that Musk had reinstated full access to Starshield. On Friday, after Ukrainian commanders reported that access was still throttled, Trump told reporters he had heard the restrictions were lifted, "but if it's not, I'll fix it."
He also said he had not spoken to Musk about the satellite system, contradicting media reports that he had called Musk and asked for access to be reinstated.
Several U.S. lawmakers had raised concerns about the service outages, urging the Trump administration and SpaceX to ensure it would not happen again.
Ukraine's chargé d'affairs in Washington, Denys Sienik, said the country was grateful to those that helped restore the service "as reliable Starlink/Starshield connectivity plays a critical role in intercepting Russian drones and protecting Ukrainian lives."
Trump has piled pressure on Zelensky in an attempt to push him to strike a deal with Russia to end the nearly five-year war in Ukraine. Trump announced a diesel deal with Moscow this month and waived sweeping sanctions against Russia amid voter concerns about high energy prices ahead of the midterm elections.
Serhiy Morgunov contributed to this report.
Related Content
This article originally appeared on Washington Post at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/ukraine-says-satellite-access-back-140909217.html