Zelensky reports new Starshield disruptions across Ukraine’s front line
Ukraine’s president says systematic restrictions on the SpaceX satellite service are disrupting military communications and complicating efforts to intercept Russian drones.
By Khalid Khalil ·
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, November 12, that military units had experienced significant new disruptions to the Starshield satellite communications network over several days. He said the problems affected the entire front line and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, raising fresh concerns over access to a service that plays a key role in frontline communications.
In a social media statement, Zelensky described the latest problems as systematic restrictions rather than technical failures occurring at random. He said Ukrainian units had been documenting the disruptions across Ukrainian territory. According to the president, the limits were benefiting Russian forces by helping them conduct more accurate strikes and kill more Ukrainians. His comments attributed direct battlefield consequences to the loss of reliable satellite service.
Zelensky also identified a specific limitation affecting equipment in motion: he said Starshield systems stopped working at speeds above 100 miles per hour, or 161 kilometres per hour. That threshold, he said, was creating a significant obstacle to intercepting Russian jet-powered drones, which travel considerably faster. His account linked the restrictions to Ukraine’s ability to respond to those aircraft.
Starshield is the military-grade counterpart of Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The network provides communications for Ukrainian forces at the front, making interruptions to its availability a concern for military operations. The latest reported disruptions follow an earlier dispute over Ukraine’s access to SpaceX satellite services.
Ukraine first reported Starshield problems last month after a disagreement between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump concerning a diesel deal between the United States and Russia. Both Trump and Musk denied responsibility for those earlier outages. Musk subsequently accused Ukraine of using SpaceX’s Starlink service improperly for military purposes, before all sides said full access had been restored.
The renewed complaints coincide with diplomatic efforts to end the almost five-year war. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at finding an agreement to end the conflict.
Zelensky said Ukraine was seeking clarification from the United States about the latest service problems. “We are trying to establish all the circumstances with the American side,” he said.
