Ukraine says Starshield back to normal, Musk says Kyiv violated terms

KYIV: Ukraine said on Saturday (Oct 24) that the Starlink satellite system and its military version Starshield were now fully functional after over a week of restrictions that disrupted military operations and intensified tensions with the US.

But hours later, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose company owns Starlink, accused the Ukrainian military of violating the company's terms. Neither Musk nor the US government, which operates Starshield using Starlink technology, had taken responsibility for imposing the curbs.

"Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week," Musk said on X.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said on the Telegram app that the country is "physically unable" to use Starlink for long and medium range attack drone operations.

Ukraine's general staff and defence ministry did not immediately comment.

Starshield's problems occurred after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel while pressing Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries.

Ukrainian officials said the restrictions, which capped Starshield operations at speeds of 160 kph,  hampered the military's ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations.

"The main thing for today is that Starlink and Starshield have resumed operations at their pre-restriction speeds. The speeds are now at the level we need," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram before Musk's statement.

According to Zelenskyy, the speeds started returning to normal overnight. Ukraine's defence ministry said on Saturday the connection remained stable at over 400 kph.

Ukraine does not rely on Starlink for long-range drone operations on Russian territory, including attacks on refineries. It operates at speeds no higher than 70-90 kph, Beskrestnov said.

But it remains vital for frontline communications, and the deployment of fast Starshield-enabled medium-range attack drones has helped Ukraine gain the upper hand in several areas of the battlefield this year.

LIMITATIONS ORDER

The restrictions sparked outrage in Ukraine, particularly as they coincided with disruptions to allied warnings about incoming Russian missile attacks. Kyiv later said it continued to receive US intelligence.

Both Musk and US officials said publicly that any decisions on Starlink and Starshield limitations could only have been taken by the other.

Reuters has reported that the order to throttle Starshield came from inside the White House. Previously, US administrations had several times asked SpaceX to turn Starlink on or off in various countries, sources said.

On Friday, contradicting his previous statement that the services had been fully restored, Trump said that if problems persisted, he would "get it straightened out".