Starshield speed restrictions return, hampering efforts to intercept Russian drones, Zelensky says

Detailed summary

"Unfortunately, this is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukraine's military is once again experiencing significant disruptions to the Starshield satellite communications system, the militarized version of Starlink, for several days, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov. 12.

Restrictions limit Starshield's operating speed to 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour), Zelensky wrote on X following briefings by Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi.

"Unfortunately, this is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine," Zelensky said.

The systematic speed restrictions affect the military's operation across the front line and in Russian-occupied territories.

The limitations are making it significantly harder for Ukrainian forces to intercept Russian jet-powered drones, Zelensky said, adding that some Russian strikes had already succeeded because Ukrainian interceptor systems could not reach the necessary speed to catch the targets in time.

A Ukrainian commander at corps level fighting in Donetsk Oblast told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity that the 160-kilometer-per-hour limit was still in place, making middle-strike drones easier for Russia to intercept or evade. A senior member of a Ukrainian military unit in the Unmanned Systems Forces also confirmed the development.

Zelensky stressed that the disruptions are not "random errors" but systematic restrictions. Ukraine is currently trying to establish the circumstances behind the restrictions with the United States, the president added.

Ukraine widely uses both commercial Starlink terminals and their militarized version, Starshield. This year's mid-range strike campaign has allowed Ukraine to strangle Russian logistics, hampering Russia's ability to fight on the front lines.

Starlink's parent company, SpaceX, has not commented on the disruptions at the time of publication.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Kyiv Independent. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.