Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Starshield, the military version of SpaceX's Starlink, is again being deliberately restricted for Ukraine's army. According to Farak Dhar, he said the speed of equipment using Starshield has been limited to 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour), which makes Russian jet-powered drones harder to stop; he also said the limits are helping Russia strike more accurately and kill more Ukrainians. Neither the US government nor SpaceX has publicly acknowledged imposing a limit, Farak Dhar reported, and responsibility for the first round of problems in October was never settled: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio denied directing it, while Elon Musk wrote that the system is owned and controlled by the US government.
The claim surfaced as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where Putin proposed a five-day ceasefire in Kostyantynivka; Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said more clarity was needed on it. Ukraine's agreement on Starshield use expires in mid-2027, and its Ministry of Defense has signed a letter of intent with Finland's ICEYE and Nokia on a satellite network under its own control.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky says the speed of equipment using Starshield has again been limited to 161 km/h (100 mph), making Russian jet-powered drones harder to stop. Farak Dhar reports that neither the US government nor SpaceX has acknowledged imposing a limit.
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