Ukraine’s military has regained a “stable connection” to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system after days of degraded service that had constrained operations on the front line, the country’s defense minister said Saturday.
Defense Minister Ievhen Khmara said monitoring systems had recorded a return of normal speeds on Starlink and Starshield terminals, with throughput once again exceeding 400 km/h. The throttling had been observed against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Kyiv and Washington.
Drone Operations Affected
The slowdown had notably hampered the Ukrainian army’s ability to operate certain drones used against Russian forces. Khmara said the restoration was “first and foremost important for our front, for our soldiers, for the functioning of drones, for logistics and for communications.”
He also welcomed what he described as “the firm position of the Ukrainian president at the highest level,” saying it “is bearing fruit.”
Recriminations Between Kyiv and Washington
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had accused Washington of being behind the restrictions and of failing to warn Kyiv on several occasions about incoming Russian missiles before they struck.
Both the White House and billionaire Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates Starlink, denied responsibility for the throttling of the satellite system.
On Friday, Donald Trump said that Musk had “restarted” the network for Ukraine. The episode underscored how deeply the satellite constellation — critical to Ukrainian battlefield communications — has become entangled in the political relationship between Kyiv and its key ally.
