Starlink and Starshield speeds restored in Ukraine

Ukraine's satellite internet links are back to normal. On Saturday, 24 October, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said its monitoring systems were officially recording the restoration of Starlink and Starshield operating speeds, with connections stable at movement speeds above 400 km/h. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the restoration began overnight and that speeds were back to where they were before the restrictions.

What was restricted

The limit was not about download speed in the usual sense. From around 14 October, terminals on objects moving faster than roughly 160 km/h (100 mph) lost their connection, according to Ukrainian officials quoted by the BBC and the Kyiv Independent. That matters most for drones, including the interceptors Ukraine uses against Russian jet-powered and Shahed-type drones, as well as for logistics and frontline communications.

Ukraine uses both the civilian Starlink service and Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade version of the network, which Musk has said is controlled by the US government. In a 14 October post, he said any speed or usage limits on Starshield are decided by the US military.

Who did it?

That question is still disputed. According to NPR, Zelensky said Ukrainian officials believed the restrictions followed a message from the US government, which the Trump administration denied. The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump had told Musk to lift the cap.

After the restoration, Musk wrote on X that SpaceX had throttled Starlink because Ukraine's military "violated Starlink terms of service" by using the civilian service for offensive drone strikes, adding that this "loophole was closed last week". US Senator Richard Blumenthal has opened a probe asking the Pentagon to explain who ordered the restrictions, the Kyiv Independent reports.

Why it matters beyond the front line

The episode is a sharp reminder of how much depends on a single private satellite constellation. Low Earth orbit networks are quickly becoming standard infrastructure, from rural broadband to satellite SOS on phones, and the rules for who can switch features on or off are set in software. SpaceX's launch cadence keeps growing too, as the FAA's approval of more Starship launches from Starbase shows.

Ukraine's defence ministry says it continues to monitor Starlink and Starshield performance. Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara called the restoration a result of direct dialogue at the highest level and said it is important above all for drone operations, logistics and communications.