The Ukrainian military has restored access to Starshield after outages that hampered drone operations. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the system is back in service, but is still trying to clarify the reason for the restrictions and who imposed them.
The problems began on October 14. According to Business Insider, Starlink terminals mounted on Ukrainian drones were disconnecting when the drones reached speeds of 160 km/h. In some cases, problems occurred even at 72 km/h.
The next day, representatives of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that Starshield was back in service by 11:45 a.m. Yegor Chernev, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence, confirmed that functionality had been restored to the state before the outages.
Several operations have been disrupted
A Ukrainian National Guard officer named Yuriy also confirmed that the connection had been restored. He said that the restrictions had already disrupted several operations.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the outages have hampered medium-range strikes, interception of air targets, and front-line logistics. Due to the reliance on satellite communication, the speed limit has affected both drone control and some reconnaissance and supply tasks.
Musk pointed to the US military
There has been no public confirmation yet of who specifically imposed the restrictions. Starshield is a protected military and government segment operated by SpaceX under the supervision of the US government.
“Any restrictions on speed or use are determined by the US military and ultimately by the President of the United States“, Elon Musk said.His statement focused on Washington's role, but did not answer when the decision was made or by which authority. Meanwhile, the outages coincided with tensions between Kiev and Washington and US President Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to stop strikes on Russian energy facilities.
Chernev confirmed that the US continues to share intelligence with Ukraine. The restoration of Starshield returns the system to operational mode, but does not end questions about how decisions on access and restrictions are made.
Sources: news.bg