Zelensky says Starshield restrictions give Russia more room to attack, accuses SpaceX of treating occupied territories as 'not ours'
"If you impose restrictions there, you are already partially recognizing the temporarily occupied territories as not ours," Zelensky told journalists, referring to the existing ban on Ukraine using Starshield to target sites inside Russia, which has now been partially extended to Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed concern that restrictions on the Starshield satellite communications system, which limits its operating speed over Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, give Russia more room to attack. Zelensky stated that imposing these restrictions effectively recognizes the temporarily occupied territories as not belonging to Ukraine.
The new limits, which reduce Starshield's speed to 100 miles per hour, hinder Ukraine's ability to shoot down Russian strike drones, which are typically intercepted over occupied territory before reaching government-controlled areas. This situation gives Russia more opportunities to launch attacks.
The Defense Ministry has confirmed discussions with SpaceX regarding the restrictions, and the company denies implementing them, attributing the issue to a technical problem. Zelensky, however, claims that the restrictions have been in place for five days and have been consistently observed in different directions, suggesting they are widespread. SpaceX has publicly refuted these allegations, stating that no change has occurred.
Zelensky also revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him that Starshield is more under U.S. government control than SpaceX's. This discrepancy between official statements has prompted Ukraine's Congressional Ukraine Caucus to demand a full explanation from the Trump administration and SpaceX, calling for the immediate restoration of full Starshield access for Ukraine.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
