Ukraine says its troops suddenly face restrictions over Starlink access
Is this the Trump administration’s way of telling Kyiv to halt long-range strikes on Russia’s oil industry?
Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump.
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- Zelensky adviser Serhyi Beskrestnov said Starlink terminals over 100mph lost connectivity, disrupting military missions.
- He said forces received no warning and linked the restriction to current political tensions.
- The reported limit may hinder Ukraine’s defenses against Russian Shahed drones, which often rely on Starlink.
- The move could be the Trump administration’s way of telling Kyiv to halt long-range strikes on Russia’s oil industry.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
SpaceX seems to have limited Starlink operations in Ukraine, thus disrupting several important military missions, an advisor on military technology to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has announced.
Serhyi Beskrestnov, Zelensky’s advisor who’s also a popular blogger, said on Telegram that Starlink terminals traveling at more than 100mph (on a drone, for example) and using a “StarShield military package” suddenly lost connectivity.
“Our defense forces were not given notice of this limit, and this has resulted in the disruption of a number of missions,” wrote Zelensky’s aide.
“It is clear that this action cannot be a coincidence and is related to the current political situation.”
Starlink terminals, distributed and managed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, are crucial to Ukraine’s military operations on the frontline and beyond. Cybernews has approached SpaceX for comment.
Musk is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who has lately been demanding that Kyiv stop striking Russian oil refineries. Trump, who is also blaming Ukraine for the high cost of diesel, signed a deal to import Russian diesel last week.
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Political activist Serhii Sternenko first reported the outage and later commented that the speeds at which the loss of connectivity occurred had fallen even lower.
“It is likely that the SpaceX company resorted to such measures at the request of the Trump administration,” wrote Sternenko.
According to Beskrestnov, another problem for Kyiv is that Starlink is usually used in defensive operations protecting the country from Shahed UAVs which Russia send to attack targets in Ukraine.
“In fact, by their actions, the partners are depriving us of one of the few chances to protect the country from Shahed jets,” said Zelensky’s aide.
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SpaceX had previously cut off Starlink service to Ukrainian troops during a 2024 offensive that took a small amount of Russian territory.
According to Oliver Carroll, chief Ukraine correspondent for The Economist, feelings in Kyiv are running very high following the latest developments.
“If Trump had been running the United States back in 1939, I think he would have been Hitler’s ally,” an intelligence source told Carroll.
“And on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, Witkoff and Kushner would have built a posh hotel complex.”
