Starshield has been disrupted again, and the major problem is for Kyiv’s defence, not for the attack

Kyiv. Whilst trilateral peace talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine were taking place in Abu Dhabi, unexpected problems arose on the Ukrainian front. On 10 November, restrictions on the Starshield satellite communications system, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, resurfaced. “Initially, there were outages of around 10 per cent; on the second day, around 50 per cent; and on the third, 100 per cent,” a source from the Ukrainian President’s office told Il Foglio. “It is now consistently at 100 per cent,” the source added on 13 November. On that day, Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Kyiv following a trip to Denmark and Ireland.

The president only publicly announced the problems with Starlink (Starshield is its military division) on 12 November, when it became clear that this was not a normal outage. “Starshield’s speed restrictions are in place at 161 kilometres per hour,” said Zelensky. He added that the Ukrainian army had already investigated the circumstances and concluded that this was not an accident but a systemic problem.

This is not the first time the United States has limited the speed of Starshield terminals in Ukraine. It had already happened between 14 and 23 October. However, it is still unclear exactly who was behind the decisions: the Pentagon, SpaceX or Elon Musk himself. The situation has repeated itself. Military analyst Denis Popovich points out that limiting the speed of Starshield will not stop Ukraine’s deep-strike attacks and attacks on Russian oil refineries – to which US President Donald Trump is firmly opposed, as Starlink is not used on Russian territory. However, it will have a significant impact on medium-range attacks, namely those against military installations located in the occupied territories. “The frequency and quality of attacks on the Russian army’s logistics in those areas will decrease,” he predicts. Medium-range drones are used in areas beyond the range of FPV drones (which cannot fly more than 20–30 kilometres), whilst medium-range drones have a range of 50–100 kilometres or more.

The speed limit will also have an impact on the fight against jet-powered drones used by Moscow in attacks on civilians. “This has a negative impact on our air defence,” admits Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Ukrainian Air Force. “Starlink and Starshield are currently being used to intercept enemy drones and jet-powered targets in order to protect the state from terrorist attacks, which continue virtually round the clock,” Ignat told the Kyiv24 television channel. For example, on the night of 13 November, Russia attacked the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics in Kyiv with a jet-powered drone. One hundred windows across six wards were destroyed, injuring three people.

Popovich explains that to shoot down a jet-powered drone, an interceptor must have visual contact with it. “The operator must see where it is flying and what it is trying to shoot down.” And if visual contact is lost, it cannot be shot down. Popovich argues that limiting the Starshield’s speed to 161 kilometres per hour will hamper its ability to combat not only jet-powered drones, but also standard Shahed drones, which fly at 200 kilometres per hour.

According to sources at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, Kyiv is currently in contact with representatives from SpaceX to resolve the situation and is also contacting the US Department of Defence for further clarification.

The renewed speed restriction on Starshield is facing criticism not only in Ukraine, but also in the United States. Republican MP Don Bacon wrote on X on 12 November that, regardless of who made this decision – whether the executive branch or Musk – it is leading to an increase in Ukrainian casualties. “Such actions play into the hands of the war criminal Putin.” Bacon is calling on Congress to establish who is ultimately responsible for this decision. “Siding with a tyrant is un-American,” the MP wrote.