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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink, has faced "systematic speed restrictions" along the entire front line and in occupied territories for several days, hampering Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian jet-powered drones.
"Systematic speed restrictions are being imposed on Starshield, limiting it to 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour). The Ukrainian military has already investigated the circumstances, and these are not random errors but systematic speed restrictions," Zelenskyy wrote on X after briefings from Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara and Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi.
"Unfortunately, this is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine," he said.
"For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones. Unfortunately, there have already been strikes that got through because our interception systems cannot reach sufficient speeds and are unable to intercept in time," Zelenskyy said.
"We are trying to establish all the circumstances with the American side," he added.
Neither U.S. officials, SpaceX, nor Elon Musk had commented.
Ukrainian interceptor drones struggle against fast-moving threats such as Russian Shahed-type drones, which fly at close to 200 mph, because the connection cuts out before interceptors can catch up.
Slower speeds also make many of Ukraine’s medium-range and high-speed attack drones inoperable.
Starshield uses enhanced encryption and dedicated terminals, and any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president.
Ukraine does not have Starshield or Starlink access over Russia, so the restrictions do not affect long-range strikes inside Russia, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
Ukraine reported restrictions for over a week last month following a dispute between Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump over a U.S. deal to buy Russian diesel and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.
Zelenskyy said on Oct. 24 that speeds had been restored.
The Telegraph reported in October, citing four sources, that Musk had proposed the speed limits to Trump, and one source said Trump "agreed," paving the way for the Pentagon to execute the slowdown.
Both Trump and Musk denied responsibility, and Musk later accused Ukraine of misusing the service.
"Well, it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. I don’t know," Trump said of the October slowdown in a recent interview with Ross Douthat. "I can tell you ultimately he turned it back up and so they have it."
The accusations came as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at the Kremlin on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after being greeted at the airport by Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
They will then fly to Dublin to brief Zelenskyy.
Kushner said the meeting would review the Abu Dhabi talks "because we see some openings and some opportunities," adding: "Some areas we see places where we can find compromises, others we need to have more discussions, but I think this was a good first step."
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed to a prisoner exchange during the two days of talks.
"What’s important is that the Americans flew to Putin with specifics. I would very much like them to return to Dublin with specifics," Zelenskyy said, adding there could be a "window of opportunity" to end the war before 2027.
Overnight, a Russian strike on a residential building in Kyiv killed one person, as the Starshield dispute resurfaced.
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