// ARS TECHNICA — MONDO
Ukraine says it can’t stop Russian strikes because Starshield is limited again
Report: Ukraine suspects speeds limits are intended to help Russia in peace talks.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that Starshield has again been disabled on fast-moving drones in Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces, and that the US has provided “very little” information about the return of the restriction.
“We have detected speed restrictions on Starshield on our Ukrainian territory again, in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at the 9th European Political Community Summit in Ireland. “The speed limit is back at 161 kilometers per hour—that’s 100 miles per hour.”
Zelenskyy’s allegation is that Starshield—the military variant of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service—stops working on Ukrainian military drones when they travel above 161 kilometers per hour.
SpaceX today denied Zelenskyy’s allegation. “This is false. There has been no change,” SpaceX’s media relations department told Ars today when asked if SpaceX has any response to Zelenskyy’s statement that Starshield is being restricted again.
SpaceX has received multiple Pentagon contracts to give Ukraine access to the military-focused Starshield. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said last month that any decisions on Starshield restrictions are made by the US government. The Pentagon inspector general’s office has since declined a request from US senators to investigate who ordered the restrictions.
Ukraine officials reportedly said today that they believe the limit was reinstated to put pressure on Ukraine in the latest round of peace talks with Russia. Zelenskyy said in today’s speech that without satellite connectivity on its drones, Ukraine cannot intercept Russian drones that fly in from the occupied parts of Ukraine.
It has often been unclear whether US and Ukrainian government officials discussing the restrictions were referring to Starlink, the civilian service that isn’t supposed to be used for offensive military purposes, or Starshield, which relies on the same technology but is intended for military use. But today, Zelenskyy clearly stated that the current restrictions affect Starshield.
“This directly affects our ability to intercept Russian jet-powered Shahed drones,” Zelenskyy said. “These drones come from those [occupied] areas, and because of the speed restrictions, we simply cannot catch up with them in time. Near the front line, we cannot use our aircraft. Only drone interceptors can operate there. And without the speed we need, shooting down these Shaheds becomes much harder. This means more Russian strikes get through, and more of our people are killed, our civilians are killed, by Russia.”
Ukraine officials reported the first round of restrictions about a month ago, but the limits were removed by October 24. Zelenskyy said today that Ukraine doesn’t know why the limit is in place again.