Zelenskiy says restrictions still in place on Starshield, hampering operations inside Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said ​on Friday that speed restrictions remained ‌in ​place on the US Starshield satellite communications system, hampering the Ukrainian military's ability to operate inside the country.

Zelenskiy said ‌the continued restrictions made it hard to intercept jet-powered and other drones and sent a bad signal to Russia on dealing with land seized by Russian forces ‌in the 4 1/2-year war. "Unfortunately, the speed restrictions remain in place along the entire ‌front line and in temporarily-occupied territories of Ukraine," he said in his nightly video address.

"I expect the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Ministry, together with all relevant structures in the ⁠United States, ​will work through this ⁠issue." In mid-October, Ukrainian officials said Elon Musk's SpaceX had abruptly capped the speed of Starlink and ⁠its Starshield military version, cutting off drones and other equipment moving faster than about 160 ​kph (100 mph) amid tensions with the Trump administration over Ukrainian attacks on Russian ⁠oil refineries.

Service was restored on October 24 and neither Musk nor the US government, which operates ⁠Starshield ​using Starlink technology, took responsibility for imposing the curbs. On Thursday, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian military units had again recorded disruptions to Starshield over several days.

In his ⁠latest comments, Zelenskiy repeated that the restrictions "limit our ability to intercept jet-powered Shaheds (Iranian-designed drones) ⁠and counter other ⁠drones". "They also send Russia a signal that America may somehow treat our temporarily-occupied land differently," he said. "We expect the speed ‌to be ‌restored."