The key facts

  • Ukraine's Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara said Starshield is working normally again, but testing continues and the military has received no explanation for the restrictions.
  • For about 10 days, Ukrainian drones lost connectivity at speeds of around 100 miles per hour, causing some aircraft to go out of control.
  • According to WSJ, Donald Trump called Elon Musk on Wednesday and asked him to restore the service; Musk previously claimed that Ukraine 'violated the Starlink terms of use'.

Restrictions lifted, but without explanations

SpaceX appears to have lifted the restrictions on the Ukrainian army's use of Starshield — the military version of the Starlink satellite internet service. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ukraine's Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara told journalists that Starshield is working normally again, although the military continues testing and has not received any explanation of why the restrictions were in place. TechCrunch reports this, citing the WSJ publication.

Ten days of drone problems

The restrictions persisted for about 10 days: Ukrainian drones lost their internet connection while flying at speeds of around 100 miles per hour. As a result, the military lost control of some of the aircraft, while others became more vulnerable because they had to fly slower.

Trump's call and a public conflict

According to WSJ, President Donald Trump called SpaceX head Elon Musk on Wednesday and asked him to restore the service Starshield. Both Trump and Musk have criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; Musk recently published a post saying 'Zelensky has gone too far' .

Background: accusations and Musk's statements

WSJ previously reported that Musk ordered Ukraine's access to Starlink to be restricted, although, according to some sources, he first discussed this with the Trump administration. Musk himself stated in a post on X that Ukraine 'violated the Starlink terms of use and used it for offensive drone strikes with the aim of killing people'. He also wrote: 'If Starlink were shut down, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately. This is NOT a threat, it is simply a statement of fact.' Editorial note: the reasons for lifting the restrictions and official explanations from SpaceX had not been disclosed at the time of publication, and the claim about prior discussion with the administration remains unconfirmed publicly by all parties.

Why it matters

The Ukrainian army's dependence on Starlink for drone control makes access to the service a de facto element of combat capability at the front, which is confirmed by Musk's own statement about the consequences of a shutdown. The restoration of the service directly affects the effectiveness of Ukrainian strike and reconnaissance drones, and the absence of official explanations leaves the risk of similar restrictions recurring. The key unresolved question is under what conditions and on whose initiative the service was restricted and then restored.