Ukraine still can't intercept drones due to Starlink issues, Zelenskyy says
The Ukrainian president said Starlink issues are hampering his country's defensive efforts against Russian drones.
Key points
- Zelenskyy says Ukraine cannot use Starlink or Starshield to intercept Russian drones due to speed limits.
- Rubio says Starshield is a U.S. military product not available to Ukraine and denies deliberate slowdown.
- Ukraine's chargé d'affaires says Kyiv has not received confirmation that speeds are restored.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukraine still cannot use its interceptor systems against Russian drones because of speed restrictions on Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink, according to CBS News. Speaking in an online chat with reporters at the EU Summit, Zelenskyy said Ukraine cannot use Starlink or Starshield on its territory to shoot down jet-powered Shahed drones.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv is discussing the issue with U.S. officials, who told him the restrictions were linked to technical problems. He added that Starlink appears to operate at higher speeds in EU territory.
Speed limits and official responses
Zelenskyy said Starlink works up to 161 km/h in Ukraine and then shuts off, while in the EU it works at 180-plus and constantly. He said Ukraine loses both drones and connectivity.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Starshield is a defense product used by the U.S. military and is not currently available to Ukraine, adding that discussions are ongoing. Rubio denied the U.S. government was responsible for the outage and said, "it wasn't deliberate." He also said nobody ordered Starlink speed to be slowed down and that it has been restored.
Unfortunately, we can't use Starlink or Starshield technology on our territory today to shoot down jet-powered Shaheds
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine seeks confirmation
Denys Sienik, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires to the U.S., said later Saturday that Ukraine had not received a response from the Pentagon or SpaceX about its inquiries, including confirmation that unlimited speeds have been restored and that Starshield is operating as before. He said Ukraine cannot confirm the capabilities have been fully restored.
President Trump said Friday he had not limited Ukraine's access to Starlink and did not believe Musk was responsible. Musk said Wednesday that Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government, with limits decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president.
