Starlink restrictions affecting Ukraine's front line operations, Kyiv says

Speed restrictions connected the cardinal Starlink communications web person disrupted Ukraine's battlefield "missions", President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor has warned. Serhiy Beskrestnov said Ukrainian troops had not been informed about the velocity limits acceptable overnight at 100mph (160km/h) by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. A source in the Ukrainian defence ministry earlier confirmed this to the BBC. Starlink is simply a critical instrumentality allowing Kyiv to effectively usher drones to Russian targets and also support Ukrainian skies. SpaceX has not publicly commented. This comes as at least 600,000 people across Ukraine were left without power after deadly overnight Russian rocket and drone strikes, Zelensky said. He said "critical" energy infrastructure had been hit in Kyiv and the superior region, and in the northeastern city of Kharkiv – despite US President Donald Trump's assertion on Sunday that an "energy ceasefire" was in place between Russia and Ukraine. Three people were killed in Kyiv, local officials said. Russia said its "massive" strikes had hit communications and energy facilities used by Ukraine's military. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. In Wednesday's post on Telegram, Beskrestnov said SpaceX had "implemented overnight a velocity bound on Starlink terminals" and this had already resulted in "the disruption of a figure of missions". "It is clear that this action cannot be a coincidence and is related to the current political situation," he added. In the follow-up post, Zelensky's advisor stressed that Starlink was the most effective instrumentality for enabling interceptors to shoot down Russia's recently developed jet-propelled drones. A source in the Ukrainian defence ministry earlier told the BBC: "Last night, we detected restrictions affecting Starlink connectivity at speeds above 160 km/h, though we are still verifying the exact velocity threshold." "This concern is significantly complicating operations, particularly logistics, unmanned systems, middle-strike missions, and other activities," the source said, adding the "root cause" of the issue was being investigated. In February, Musk's decision to deny Russian forces access to Starlink blunted Moscow's advance in Ukraine and caused confusion among Russian commanders. Musk's SpaceX has not commented on the reported velocity restrictions. Zelensky has said the US threatened to restrict intelligence sharing if he did not sign up to Trump's energy ceasefire. Trump on Tuesday denied that Washington was withholding intelligence. Overnight, Russia launched 39 ballistic and cruise missiles and 128 drones, and that 4 of those missiles and 115 drones had been shot down, according to Ukraine's air force. It is the second night in a row Kyiv has been hit by Russian missiles, and came as Zelensky prepared to meet UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday to discuss accelerating air defence supplies to Kyiv. During the past 2 nights, ballistic missiles have struck targets in the Ukrainian capital without any warning, before air raid sirens could be sounded. Ukraine relies on US satellite systems to track Russian missiles in order to issue alerts and to attempt to shoot them down. Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said 902 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight across a number of Russian regions, including the capital Moscow and Crimea – Ukraine's southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. On Sunday, Trump wrote in a post on social media: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!" Zelensky has since repeatedly said Ukraine is ready to halt its strikes on Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities if Moscow did the same. But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Ukraine does not deserve the "respite" a ceasefire would bring. Under any truce, he added, Europe would be able to "pump [Ukraine] with fresh weapons", enabling it to continue the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Read the full story at BBC News →