Ukraine Says Starlink Is Stable Again, but Blame for the Curbs Remains Unsettled

Ukraine says its military once again has a stable connection to Starlink, the satellite network it depends on to fly drones and coordinate troops, after roughly 10 days of restricted service, according to the Guardian. Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on Saturday that speeds above 400 km/h are now possible on the network, a sign that full capability has been restored, the BBC reported.

The announcement did not end the argument over who was responsible. Within hours, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused the Ukrainian military of breaking the company's terms of service, while neither Musk nor the U.S. government took responsibility for the limits, the Guardian reported.

What the restrictions did on the battlefield

Kyiv relies on Starlink and its military-grade counterpart Starshield for piloting drones and operating inside Ukraine, the BBC reported. Last week it said the network was capping drones at about 161 km/h (100 mph), after which they lost their connection.

The Guardian reported that the caps led to the failure of several Ukrainian combat missions earlier this month. According to the newspaper, the military's ability to intercept Russian attack drones suffered, some operations to strike behind enemy lines were canceled, and Russia was able to launch ballistic missiles at Ukraine without advance warning from the United States.

What each side says

Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed both Washington and SpaceX. He said the U.S. government sent a message to limit the speed and that SpaceX carried it out technically. He said similar limits were not placed on Starshield terminals in EU countries, which in his view showed a planned operation, and warned that people would die as a result. On Saturday he thanked U.S. allies, including President Donald Trump and the State Department, for resolving the problem, saying speeds were back to the level Ukraine needs.

Musk. After the restoration was announced, Musk wrote on social media that Ukraine's military had violated Starlink's terms and used it for offensive drone strikes, and that this loophole was closed last week, according to the Guardian. Earlier he had said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that any limits are decided by the U.S. military and, ultimately, the president.

The U.S. government. Trump first said the decision was not his and that he did not think it was Musk's either, then said Musk had put the service back, the BBC reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the president has nothing to do with decisions made by Starlink, Starshield and Musk, calling it a private company. Vice President JD Vance said Musk does not want to be pulled into a war between two states without the U.S. government directing him. Trump also said he had not spoken to Musk but might have to if the service was not fixed.

A disputed picture of what works now

Serhiy Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, wrote on Telegram that the country is physically unable to use Starlink for long- and medium-range attack drone operations, the Guardian reported. The BBC noted that Russia is not authorized to use Starlink, so the network does not work when Ukraine sends long-range missiles or drones deep into Russia. Ukraine's general staff and defense ministry had not immediately commented on Musk's claim.

Trump had said earlier in the week that service was back at full speed, but a European official told the Associated Press it was not fully functioning, the Guardian reported.

Why it matters

For Ukraine, the practical stakes are front-line logistics, communications and defense against jet-powered Shahed drones, which Zelenskyy cited on Saturday. The BBC reported that Ukraine's military uses a network of 10,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites heavily, particularly in remote areas of the battlefield.

The episode also shows how much a wartime system depends on a privately owned company and on the U.S. government, and how little clarity there is about who sets the rules. The Guardian reported that the speed limits coincided with Trump's announcement of a U.S. deal to buy Russian diesel, and the BBC said the dispute emerged during a wider row between Trump and Zelenskyy over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. Zelenskyy also said Washington had threatened to withdraw intelligence sharing if the strikes did not stop, which Trump denied.

Fighting continues. Russia's defense ministry said on Telegram that its air defenses shot down 616 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Saturday, according to the BBC. Ukrainian authorities said they struck a missile component manufacturer, a chemical plant and an aircraft at a military airfield inside Russia over the past 24 hours.

Around Prague, based on reporting by BBC News, The Guardian