Ukraine Says Starlink Back to Normal After Week of Throttling

After more than a week of restrictions that hampered military operations and heightened tensions with the US, Ukraine announced on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military variant, Starshield, were once again working at high speeds.

Following US President Donald Trump‘s announcement of an agreement to purchase Russian diesel while pressuring Kyiv to cease attacking Russian oil facilities, issues with Elon Musk‘s SpaceX-owned equipment arose. According to Ukrainian officials, the limitations made it more difficult for the military to intercept Russian attack drones and resulted in the cancellation of certain operations.

“Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence monitoring systems are officially recording the restoration of Starlink/Starshield operating speeds,” the ministry said on the Telegram app. “Connectivity remains stable at speeds exceeding 400 km per hour,” it added.

The defence ministry did not state whether Starlink service had been fully restored, and the Ukrainian military does not reveal the systems’ maximum operating rates. Ukraine had trouble operating at speeds higher than 160 kph when restrictions were in effect. Although Starlink is essential for frontline communications and Starshield is utilised for military operations in occupied territories, Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory.

The limitations infuriated Ukraine, especially as they interfered with coalition alerts regarding impending Russian missile strikes. Later, Kyiv said it was still receiving US intelligence. Starlink and Starshield restrictions in Ukraine have not been admitted by Musk or the US authorities. Both have openly refuted.