Ukraine says Starlink back to normal after week of throttling

Ukraine announced on Saturday that the Starlink satellite system and its military iteration, Starshield, are now functioning at high speeds following a week of restrictions that hampered military operations and heightened tensions with the United States. These issues arose after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to purchase Russian diesel and urged Ukraine to cease attacking Russian oil refineries.

The restrictions hindered Ukraine's ability to track Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations, according to the country's Ministry of Defence monitoring systems, which are officially reporting the restoration of Starlink/Starshield speeds. While the defense ministry did not disclose whether service was fully restored, it noted that connectivity remains stable at speeds surpassing 400 km per hour.

Ukraine's military does not disclose the systems' maximum operating speeds, but previously, when limitations were in place, they struggled to operate at speeds exceeding 160 kph. The disruptions were significant for Ukraine, especially as they coincided with delays in receiving US intelligence on incoming Russian missile threats.

Neither Elon Musk nor the US government has acknowledged responsibility for the Starlink or Starshield restrictions, which both have stated could only have been implemented by the other. The White House reportedly issued the order to throttle Starshield, with US administrations previously attempting to control SpaceX's Starlink in various nations. Trump suggested on Friday that if issues persisted, he would resolve the matter.