File image.
Ukrainian officials said on October 14 that new restrictions on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service had disrupted several military drone missions, raising concerns about the potential impact on Ukraine’s military operations.
Presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said SpaceX had restricted the operation of military-grade Starlink terminals at high speeds, preventing Ukrainian forces from using them to guide drones effectively.
“Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions,” Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, deployed on the southeastern front, reported that Starlink connections could drop for 10 to 20 seconds when drones traveled at speeds of 110 to 120 kilometers per hour. The drones continued flying during the interruptions but became harder to control, the corps said in a statement to Reuters.
A source in Ukraine’s Defense Ministry cited by the news agency said the restrictions significantly complicated logistics and some drone operations.
The disruption has also drawn criticism from Poland, which pays for Ukraine’s Starlink subscriptions. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski questioned whether Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was using the service for political purposes.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Sikorski wrote on X, adding that European customers were watching Musk’s actions.
The controversy comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv following Trump’s decision last week to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports and his demands that Ukraine halt attacks on Russian oil refineries. Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes for contributing to global fuel shortages and rising prices.
Musk has publicly supported Trump’s position. On October 11, he endorsed the president’s criticism of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries by reposting a video of Trump attacking the strikes and writing, “Zelenskyy has gone too far.”
Trump’s push to restrict Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy infrastructure has added to concerns in Kyiv that Washington could use its influence over military support to pressure the country into concessions.
Those concerns have been compounded by disputes over intelligence sharing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 13 that Ukraine had received no advance warning from its partners before Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv.
Trump denied that Washington had stopped sharing intelligence, telling reporters later in the day, “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel.”
Starlink’s resistance to electronic jamming has made it vital to Ukraine’s drone operations, battlefield coordination and military logistics. Restrictions could make it harder for Ukrainian forces to control drones en route to targets deep inside Russia while disrupting frontline communications and resupply. Thus, the restriction shows that Washington is serious about pressuring Kyiv.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
russia should sabotage enemy sats and then play dumb