Ukraine says a sudden Starlink speed limit disrupted its most important drone missions

• Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that Kyiv’s access to Starlink has been disrupted.
• Slower-than-normal speeds have affected military operations, the officials said.
• Ukraine is heavily reliant on Starlink, specifically for communications and drone missions.

Ukraine’s access to Starlink internet service was suddenly disrupted for unknown reasons, interfering with military operations, sources in the country’s defense ministry and a top presidential advisor said Wednesday morning.

Serhii Beskrestnov, a top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a social media post that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had implemented speed limits for Starlink terminals overnight. Beskrestnov said the restriction throttles the operation of Starshield, the company’s dedicated satellite network for military services, at speeds above 100 miles per hour, or roughly 161 kilometers per hour.

Sources in Ukraine’s defense ministry confirmed the disruption and told Business Insider that SpaceX had restricted the Starshield operations without warning the military. They said some units have experienced a loss of connection when drones reach speeds as low as 45 mph.

The sources said that the disruption has complicated military operations, particularly drone missions. This includes mid-range strikes, front-line logistics, and air defense intercepts, some of Ukraine’s most important drone missions.

Because Starlink does not work inside Russia, the disruption is limited to drone operations within Ukrainian territory and Russian-occupied territory.

Later in the day on Wednesday, the defense ministry reported that “SpaceX continues to maintain a limit of 161 km/h. During the day, the real limits were significantly lower. However, as of now, we record that the quality of communication has improved at speeds of up to 160.”

Ukraine has said it is in contact with the US, SpaceX, and NATO partners and is working to install backup communication channels. SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider on the restrictions.

Critical in combat

As the technology has in military and industrial sectors worldwide, SpaceX’s Starlink has become critically important to Ukraine’s military.

Kyiv has adopted it as a battlefield communications tool and also uses it in drone warfare. Drones equipped with Starlink dishes, which can be controlled remotely by pilots hundreds of miles away and adapted to new targets mid-mission, have become one of the country’s most potent weapons in the battle against Russian forces.

Ukraine’s dependence on Starlink has made it reliant on Musk and SpaceX, however.

As Business Insider recently reported, Starlink has provided Musk a vital source of influence and soft power that stretches the globe. In 2023, the world’s richest man said he refused a request from Ukraine’s military to activate Starlink to assist a Ukrainian assault on Crimea, and Reuters reported last year that SpaceX jeopardized a 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive by cutting Starlink access to front-line troops.

Recently, Musk has proven to be more supportive. In February, SpaceX clamped down on Russian forces’ use of Starlink terminals in Ukraine after Ukraine’s then-defense minister made a personal appeal to the billionaire CEO, a move that allowed Ukrainian forces to wage a successful counteroffensive.

‘It is clear this action is not coincidental’

Musk has not yet addressed reports of Starlink disruptions in Ukraine.

On Saturday, he reignited past criticisms of Zelenskyy with a post on X that the Ukrainian president had “gone too far” with his strikes on Russian refineries.

The Starlink disruption comes after a series of Russian ballistic missile attacks against Kyiv on Monday and Tuesday nights. Ukrainian officials said that in both cases, international partners did not provide an advance warning about their launch, breaking from standard practice.

Asked by reporters before the attack on Tuesday if the US would cut intelligence with Ukraine over its strikes on Russian energy sites, President Donald Trump said that Washington continued to share it.

Zelenskyy’s advisor suggested that the Starlink disruption could be linked to tensions between the US and Ukraine.

“It is clear that this action is not coincidental and is related to the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said on Telegram, according to a translation of his statement. The cause, however, remains unclear.