Overnight on October 14, restrictions appeared in Starshield—the military satellite communications package of Starlink—complicating communications and drone control for Ukraine's Armed Forces, as well as the logistics of the Ukrainian army. There is still no public confirmation of who exactly made this decision: media point to the White House and Elon Musk, while US President Donald Trump denies his involvement, reports infohub.kz.
According to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, restrictions in Starshield's operation appeared overnight on October 14 and complicated communications and drone control. As The Telegraph writes, communications are restricted if a terminal moves faster than 160 km/h. According to the newspaper's assessment, this hinders the use of drones to intercept Russian jet-powered drones and missiles.
On October 15, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense reported that terminals had been restored in field conditions. However, according to The Telegraph as of October 16, the speed limit remained in place.
Reports about who initiated the decision differ. Reuters, citing sources, reported that the instruction to restrict the system's operation came from the White House. The Telegraph, citing four interlocutors, named Musk as the initiator. According to one of the newspaper's sources, the SpaceX head proposed the idea to Trump, the president supported it, and the Pentagon then imposed the restrictions. However, later an unnamed US official told AFP that Trump did not give such instructions.
Musk himself wrote on X on October 14 that decisions to restrict Starshield's operation are made by the US military and, ultimately, by the US president.
On October 16, the US president told journalists outside the White House that he did not order restrictions on satellite communications for Ukraine. "I don't know if anyone did. It wasn't me," Trump said. He also expressed doubt that Musk made the decision. According to the president, he learned about the Starshield problems from the morning news, and as far as he knows, the system is working as before. Thus, there is still no public confirmation of who exactly ordered the restrictions.
A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously to DW, said Kyiv had not received explanations from the US regarding the restrictions. "We see this as a signal about possible further restrictive measures," the source told the outlet.
Meanwhile, US senators proposed that Kyiv pause strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in exchange for expanded Starlink access roughly 300 km deeper into Russia, The Wall Street Journal writes. According to the outlet, Volodymyr Zelensky expressed readiness to agree to such a deal and halt strikes for 100 days. No agreement has been reported yet.