The Starlink satellite communications system and its military version Starshield are operating again at speeds over 400 kilometres per hour, Ukraine's defence minister Evhenii Khmara said on Saturday, after over a week of service restrictions that slowed connections and disrupted military operations, Reuters reported. "The Ministry of Defence's monitoring systems are recording a return to normal speed for Starlink/Starshield. We are recording a speed of over 400 kph. The connection is stable," Khmara told reporters. The defence ministry said monitoring systems had previously recorded disruptions, and that the speed metrics had now returned to normal.

Source: Reuters, Oct 24, 2026

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, writing on the Telegram app, said Starlink and Starshield had resumed operations at their pre-restriction speeds and that the speeds were now at the level Ukraine needs, Reuters reported in a second dispatch on Saturday. According to Zelenskiy, the speeds started returning to normal overnight, and the defence ministry said the connection remained stable at over 400 kph. Ukraine does not disclose the systems' maximum operating speeds.

Source: Reuters, Oct 24, 2026

Over 400 kphStarlink/Starshield operating speed recorded on Saturday — Ukraine defence ministry via Reuters
About 160 kph or lessspeed cap during the restrictions, according to sources cited by Reuters
Oct 14restrictions first reported — Reuters
Over a weekduration of the disruption to frontline communications and drone interception

The restrictions, first reported on October 14, undermined Ukraine's ability to intercept Russian attack drones and disrupted frontline communications, Ukrainian officials said, and some operations had to be cancelled. Starlink, owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, remains vital for frontline communications, and Starshield-enabled medium-range attack drones have helped Ukraine gain the upper hand in several areas of the battlefield this year, Reuters reported. Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory, including attacks on refineries.

Source: Reuters, Oct 24, 2026

Neither SpaceX boss Elon Musk nor the US government has acknowledged responsibility for restricting Starlink or Starshield in Ukraine, and both have said publicly that any such decision could only have been taken by the other, Reuters reported. Reuters has previously reported that the order to throttle Starshield came from inside the White House. The problems came after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow while pressing Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries. Trump said on Friday that if problems with access to Starlink in Ukraine persisted, he would "get it straightened out".

Source: Reuters, Oct 24, 2026

A day earlier Kyiv was still reporting the limits in place: Ukraine says Starlink restrictions still in place

What is solid

  • Ukraine's defence minister and president both said on Saturday that Starlink/Starshield speeds were back over 400 kph and stable — Reuters, corroborated by the BBC's world page headline that Ukraine says the connection is 'now stable'
  • The restrictions had capped speeds at about 160 kph or less since they were first reported on October 14 and disrupted drone interception and frontline communications, Ukrainian officials said via Reuters
  • Neither SpaceX nor the US government has publicly acknowledged ordering the throttling

What is only claimed

  • Zelenskiy said the systems had resumed at pre-restriction speeds, while the defence ministry's own statement recorded a return to normal speed and stability but did not say in terms whether service had been fully restored
  • Who ordered the throttling remains unacknowledged: Reuters has reported the order came from inside the White House, while both Musk/SpaceX and the US government say the decision could only have been the other's