President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, November 12, that Ukrainian military units have recorded significant disruptions to the Starshield satellite communications service for several days, affecting the entire front line and the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine — the second time in a month that the SpaceX-run military network Kyiv's drone forces depend on has been slowed.

Source: Reuters

161 km/hThe speed cap Zelenskyy says is now imposed on Starshield use (100 mph)
Several daysHow long units have recorded the disruptions, per Zelenskyy
Oct 24When the previous, near-identical cap was lifted and service restored
2ndSpeed restriction on the network in about a month

In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy said systemic restrictions were limiting the speed at which Starshield could be used to 161 kph (100 mph). Starshield is the military version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite communications service, and Ukraine uses its terminals to keep secure communications with its offensive and defensive drone fleet. As a result of the restrictions, Zelenskyy said, Ukrainian interceptors could not reach sufficient speed to down Russian jet-powered drones, and some hits had already occurred.

Source: Reuters, reporting Zelenskyy's Telegram post

Zelenskyy said he was citing reports from Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara and Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi, and that the military had concluded the problem was, in his words, “not random errors, but a deliberate, systemic speed restriction” capping terminals at 161 km/h. That is Kyiv's assessment: the reports reviewed carried no response from SpaceX or the Pentagon, and who imposed the restriction has not been established.

Source: Rapporteur, reporting Zelenskyy's statement

The October precedent — capped, blamed, restored

In mid-October, Ukrainian officials said SpaceX had abruptly capped the speed of Starlink and Starshield at about the same level — cutting off drones and other equipment moving faster than about 160 kph — amid tensions with the Trump administration over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Service was restored on October 24. It was never established who caused the October slowdown: Rapporteur noted that Elon Musk and the Pentagon blamed each other for that incident.

Source: Reuters background; Rapporteur

Awaaz Punjab reported the October restoration at the time: Starlink and Starshield restored for Ukraine after the October cap

Why the timing matters

The new disruptions surfaced a day after two days of US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended in Abu Dhabi, and as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy, who is in Dublin, was expected to be briefed by the US negotiators later on Thursday, DPA reported. Talks on bringing Ukraine into Govsatcom — the EU initiative to pool member states' satellite communications by 2027 — are currently stalling, Rapporteur reported, leaving Kyiv without a near-term alternative to the US-run network.

Source: DPA; Rapporteur

What is solid

  • Zelenskyy stated on Thursday that units have recorded significant Starshield disruptions for several days, across the front line and occupied territories (Reuters, DPA)
  • He said a systemic speed restriction caps Starshield use at 161 km/h (100 mph), the same level as the mid-October cap
  • A near-identical cap was imposed in mid-October and lifted on October 24, when service was restored

What is only claimed

  • Who imposed the new restriction and why — Kyiv calls it deliberate and systemic, but no SpaceX or Pentagon response appeared in the reports reviewed, and responsibility for the October cap was also never established
  • Zelenskyy's statement that some Russian jet drones have already got through because interceptors were too slow — a battlefield claim that cannot be independently verified

What happens next

What happens next depends on answers Kyiv does not control: whether the cap is lifted as quickly as it was in October, whether SpaceX or the Pentagon publicly explains it this time, and how much damage Russian jet-powered drones do to Ukrainian positions and cities while interceptor links run at a capped speed. For Ukraine, the episode underlines a structural vulnerability — its drone war runs on a privately operated, US-controlled satellite network whose terms can change without warning, in the middle of US-mediated talks about the war's future.