Starlink speed limit disrupts Ukrainian drone missions overnight

Ukrainian drone missions were disrupted overnight after SpaceX introduced restrictions on the military use of its Starlink satellite network, according to Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on military technology. Connectivity is reportedly cut when terminals move faster than roughly 160 kilometres per hour, and the change disrupted several missions. "Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation and this led to the disruption of several missions," Beskrestnov, known as Flash, wrote on Telegram.

The restrictions appear to affect StarShield, the military-grade version of the service, and the reason for the change remains unclear. Ukrainian volunteer Serhiy Sternenko suggested SpaceX may have acted at the request of the Trump administration; no independent evidence supports that. What is documented is the pressure campaign unfolding around the network. Washington has warned that intelligence cooperation could be curtailed unless Ukraine halts its strikes on Russian oil refineries — Kyiv says cooperation continues, and Washington denies suspending it — and Trump has reached an agreement with Moscow to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports. Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX, responded on Saturday to a White House video criticising Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities by writing: "Zelenskyy has gone too far."

Ukraine's battlefield communications run on a network owned by a single American company whose owner publicly criticises the country's president, and the overnight change raised concerns in Kyiv that access to critical American satellite communications has become another source of leverage over the war effort.

The same night, Russia launched 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions against Kyiv, the surrounding region and Kharkiv, damaging 26 electricity facilities and four oil and gas installations and leaving at least 600,000 people without power. Zelenskyy said Ukraine received no warning from its partners ahead of the strikes for a second consecutive night, despite the energy ceasefire Trump declared and that Kyiv says Moscow has failed to observe. "Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States," he wrote, appealing to Washington for tougher sanctions and additional Patriot missile interceptors.

No connection has been established between the Starlink restrictions and the diplomatic dispute. The speed limit took effect anyway.