SpaceX explains Starshield speed restrictions imposed on Ukraine

"Ukraine has spoken to SpaceX about speed restrictions experienced by Ukrainian forces along the contact line and in occupied Ukrainian territory, and has been told it is a technical issue," he wrote.

According to the journalist, he learned this from Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in the United States Denys Sienik.

At the same time, Kyiv has still not received any further clarification as to why speed restrictions in occupied territories have remained in place for five consecutive days.

Notably, on November 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Starshield had experienced widespread disruptions across Ukraine in recent days. The president said the outages were reported along the entire front line and in temporarily occupied territories.

"Unfortunately, there have already been hits because the interception systems are not reaching sufficient speeds and cannot intercept the targets in time. Unfortunately, this helps Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine," Zelenskyy stressed.

The previous disruption to Starlink terminals occurred on October 14. At the time, the military version of the satellite communications system, Starshield, began malfunctioning when moving faster than about 160 km/h. As soon as a vehicle exceeded this threshold, the terminals lost their connection. This particularly complicated the operation of interceptor drones Ukrainian forces use to shoot down Russian Shahed drones.

Based on RBC-Ukraine's sources, the restrictions also negatively affected the use of medium-range strike drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Elon Musk to resolve the issue, warning of the risk of further Ukrainian casualties. On the same day, Russia launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Ukraine.

On the evening of October 14, the Ministry of Defense said connectivity speeds had been improved to up to 160 km/h. However, the 161 km/h restriction remained in place. The ministry added that it was continuing talks with partners and SpaceX to keep the service stable and prevent any sudden new restrictions.

Later, on October 24, RBC-Ukraine's sources in the Ministry of Defense reported that military Starlink terminals had been restored to operation at speeds above 161 km/h.

As reported, Elon Musk recently began claiming that the Ukrainian front would collapse immediately without Starlink.

It also emerged that the United States had been asking Musk for years to modify Starlink's operations in various countries.