Ukraine Says Speed Limit Has Been Lifted on Starlink’s Military Internet Service

Ukraine has announced that the speed limit on Starlink’s military internet service has been lifted. According to information shared by Defense Minister Evgeniy Khmara on the morning of October 24, the service returned to normal operation after a 10-day slowdown. This concerns Starshield, the satellite communications service developed by SpaceX for military purposes. Ukraine says the connection, which is critical for combat operations, is once again operating at full speed.

The speed limit was imposed on October 14. As a result, Ukrainian drones lost the high-speed connection needed to track some Russian unmanned aerial vehicles. Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the X social network on October 16 that the internet slowdown was hampering efforts to prevent attacks. According to him, Starlink had not been completely shut down, but some aerial targets could not be hit because of the weak connection.

Starshield is used primarily for defense within Ukraine and does not play a major role in drone attacks on Russian territory. The system is used to shoot down jet-powered Shahed drones, strike the Russian military’s logistics, and slow its advance. Zelensky said in September that most jet-powered Shahed attacks and a large share of conventional Shahed attacks are regularly stopped. Ukraine says it does not use Starlink in attacks inside Russia.

Ukraine’s operations inside Russia have also targeted oil refining and internet infrastructure. Donald Trump demanded on October 10 that these strikes be stopped, while Elon Musk wrote that Zelensky had gone too far. Ukraine, however, emphasizes that the Starshield system was not used in those attacks. No official link between the reduction in speed and these statements has been confirmed.

It is still unclear why the speed was reduced and who made the decision. Elon Musk initially wrote that the Starshield systems belong to the US government. According to him, the US military sets the speed and usage limits, while the president makes the final decision. Donald Trump said that neither he nor Musk was responsible for it. Later reports claimed that the limit had been imposed at Musk’s direction.

Donald Trump called Elon Musk on October 21 and asked him to lift the limit. Reports circulated on October 23 that the service was still not operating at full capacity. Trump said he would speak with Musk again if the issue was not resolved. That same day, Ukraine continued testing high-speed drones. The US side has not yet explained the reason for the slowdown.