The key facts

  • Ukrainian military have been reporting Starlink speed restrictions on drones for a week; Zelensky called it a 'planned operation'
  • Rubio and Trump deny that the White House issued an order to restrict access
  • The problems coincided with a cooling of relations between Kyiv and Washington after Trump's criticism and an agreement with Putin on diesel fuel supplies

Statements from Kyiv

Over the past week, Ukrainian officials and military personnel reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost the ability to use satellite internet terminals installed on drones. On Saturday, answering journalists' questions, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Starlink terminals stop working on devices moving at speeds above 161 km/h. 'According to the reports I have seen and heard, after that Starlink shuts down completely, and we lose the drone,' he said. According to him, because of the restrictions the military lost the ability to deliver food and water to fighters at their positions: 'This is very important where military personnel or vehicles cannot get through, where isolation has arisen due to enemy drone surveillance.' Zelensky called what is happening a planned operation. Later, Ukrainian military sources told journalists that the speed restrictions had begun to be lifted, but the service had not been fully restored.

The US position

Throughout the week, American officials repeatedly denied restricting satellite internet for the Ukrainian military. On October 16, Donald Trump, answering a journalist's question about the reasons for the restrictions, said: 'I don't know at all who it could have been, because it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon. As far as I understand, everything is as it was before.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the White House had not issued any order to restrict SpaceX's satellite internet for the Ukrainian military. His words contradict Zelensky's statements that the terminals do not work on fast-moving devices.

Context

Problems with SpaceX services in Ukraine became known at the end of last week against the backdrop of a sharp cooling of relations between Kyiv and Washington. At that time, Trump criticized Zelensky for strikes on oil refineries in Russia and, according to sources, agreed with Vladimir Putin on supplying several batches of diesel fuel to the world market.