Ukraine's pleas over Starlink have now reached Elon Musk

As Ukraine experiences increased attacks from Russia and fraying ties with US President Donald Trump, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is warning people will die if Elon Musk's Starlink internet service is not restored.

Kyiv's battlefield operations have relied on Starlink, SpaceX's commercial satellite internet service, and the military version developed for the Pentagon, Starshield, for some time.

The two services function as a vital battlefield communications tool and determine the speed at which some of Ukraine's weapons can travel.

But overnight, Ukraine said Mr Musk's SpaceX had restricted "military-grade" Starlink services, hampering the nation's ability to launch drone strikes and intercept Russian jet-powered drones.

"I confirm that SpaceX implemented a speed limit for Starlink terminals operating in motion last night," Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Mr Zelenskyy, wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Tuesday.

"Our defence forces received no warning about this restriction, and it has led to the disruption of a number of missions."

Ukraine's 7th Corps of the Air Assault Forces said some missions "had to be cancelled" due to the restrictions.

It is not clear what caused the disruption, but Mr Zelenskyy had urged Mr Musk to restore connectivity.

Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a later update that Starlink connectivity had been "restored" at speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour, though he called for all limits to be removed. 

"Removing Starshield's speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine's defence," he said on X.

Mr Musk, who owns Starlink and Starshield, responded by insisting his firm had nothing to do with the speed limits. He said any restrictions would have been set by the US military and Mr Trump.

The White House and Pentagon did not respond to the ABC's requests for comment.

Mr Beskrestnov said the Starlink restriction was "no coincidence" and was "linked to the current political situation".

"It's a pity that we are losing a strong partner," Mr Zelenskyy told Piers Morgan's Uncensored podcast overnight.

Here is what we know about Starlink and Starshield, and how the issue further exposes the increasingly fragile relationship between Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump.

What are Starlink and Starshield?

Starlink is a satellite internet network that beams broadband service directly to users' terminals.

It is owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, and services about 13 million subscribers from households to shipping companies.

Early in the war, Ukraine relied on Starlink for battlefield communication and military operations, such as guiding longer-range drone strikes.

But Mr Musk restricted Starlink for certain military uses, pushing the Ukrainian military to a separate military and intelligence version, known as Starshield, instead.

"Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company," Mr Musk said after the service was disrupted last night.

While Starshield uses much of the same satellite network as Starlink, Mr Musk says Starshield's systems are owned and controlled by the US government.

Ukraine's 'most effective current solution' against Putin

Losing existing access to Starlink and Starshield would harm Ukraine's defensive capabilities, officials and analysts say.

Starlink was Ukraine's "most effective current solution" for intercepting drones, Mr Beskrestnov said on Telegram.

Mr Zelenskyy has long been focused on gaining better access to Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine's war with Russia, but the requests do not appear to have been accepted.

Asked about the outage by Piers Morgan, Mr Zelenskyy said the decision would "bring a lot of human losses".

Emil Archambault, a senior policy fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations' Centre for Security and Defence, said the communications technology also allowed for "extremely effective" strategic strikes on the Russian logistics system.

"If that is not successful anymore because of a Starlink outage … Russia will be able to bring more material, more troops, more resources to the front," he told the ABC's AM program.

Russia is already trying to take advantage of the problems with Starlink, Mr Zelenskky wrote on X, unleashing a barrage of ballistic missiles and drone attacks overnight.

Strained ties between Trump and Zelenskyy

Ukraine has received billions of dollars in US support, but that has slowed down since Mr Trump took office from Joe Biden.

Since then, Mr Zelenskyy has endured a public dressing down in the Oval Office, threats that US funding would be withdrawn, and the US president openly questioning if he should be leader.

When asked overnight by Morgan if he believed Ukraine was losing America, Mr Zelenskyy responded "Yeah, but not because of us."

"We can't be weak. Otherwise, we can't survive … this is why it's painful when Trump chooses to be on Russia's side," he said.

The energy deal Mr Trump struck with Russia last week has been another blow to the relationship, drawing surprise from Ukrainian and European officials. Some Republicans have even raised eyebrows over the pact.

"This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies; it should be rescinded," a dozen US senators, including six Republicans, wrote in a letter to Mr Trump after the deal was announced.

The geopolitics at play

The Starlink outage came as Mr Zelenskyy prepared to meet with King Charles and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Mr Burnham said the past few days had been "very dark and difficult" for Ukraine, but reaffirmed Britain's support.

"We're behind you, and that will not change," he said.

Downing Street announced the planned delivery of £45 million ($85.64 million) worth of missiles used to down Russian drones, some of which would be fast-tracked.

Other European allies have voiced their support for Ukraine in light of its fraying ties with the US, but there is currently no Starlink equivalent available in the region.

"Ukraine can work with other European partners … [which have] been providing a lot of weapons systems, intelligence and other services, but the US has been the most critical one," said Rasha Gopilan, a safety security expert with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

European Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius acknowledged the continent had grown "quite dependent on American space capabilities".

"The answer to that situation is to develop our own capabilities."