Today, Wednesday, October 14, a close adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky and one of Ukraine’s most respected drone experts, Serhii Beskrestnov, confirmed that SpaceX, Elon Musk’s satellite internet company that operates Starlink, had restricted the Starshield military offering, which Kyiv relies on in particular for its drones.
- These new restrictions, imposed overnight from October 13 to 14, appear to be limited to Starlink terminals that operate “on the move,” i.e., devices that enable data transmission between the operator and the drone.
- They cap these terminals at 160 km/h: a threshold that effectively prevents the use of many medium-range strike drones, used notably to target Russian army supply lines in southern Ukraine.
- Several Ukrainian servicemen reportedly observed disconnections from the service at much lower speeds: at 70 or even 60 km/h.
Beyond offensive capabilities, these new limits could heavily undermine the interception capacity against Russian Shahed-type drones.
- According to Serhii Beskrestnov, the cap could indeed allow a larger number of Shahed drones — including newer versions like the Geran-5, which reach speeds up to 600 km/h — to slip through Ukrainian defenses.
- At such speeds, only a handful of interceptor drone models and anti-air missiles, such as those from American Patriot systems, which Ukraine lacks, could effectively neutralize these missiles.
- Zelensky also reproached his “partners,” led by Washington, for not sharing information regarding Russian ballistic missile launches that targeted Kyiv on the evenings of October 12 and 13.
Beyond the battlefield, these limitations could hamper Ukraine’s ability to intercept Shahed-type drones, potentially affecting defenses against such threats.
- According to Beskrestnov, the cap could enable a greater number of Shahed drones — including the latest variants, such as the Geran-5, which can reach speeds up to 600 km/h — to breach Ukrainian defenses.
- At these velocities, only a few interceptor drones and air-defense missiles, like those fielded by the U.S. Patriot systems—of which Ukraine is short—would be able to counter these missiles effectively.
- Zelensky has also criticized his “partners,” notably Washington, for not sharing information about Russian ballistic missile strikes that hit Kyiv on the evenings of October 12 and 13.
Several Ukrainian officials suspect that SpaceX’s limits were implemented at the behest of the Trump administration, which accuses Ukraine of driving up diesel prices and is pressuring Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian refineries.
- On Saturday, October 10, Elon Musk accused Zelensky of having “gone too far,” in response to a video in which Trump criticizes the Ukrainian president for not having concluded a deal negotiated with Russia. The following day, he stated that it was “time for Ukraine to have a new leader.”
- The American billionaire, who has spent nearly $300 million since July to back Republican candidates in the midterm elections, has repeatedly accused Zelensky of opposing the holding of elections.
- In October 2022, he conducted a Twitter poll to gauge his followers’ views on a “peace plan” that included the formal annexation of Crimea to Russia and Ukraine’s “neutrality.”
The war in Ukraine has given Starlink significant influence due to its resilience to jamming technologies that disrupt communications. In February, SpaceX, at Kyiv’s request, ended more than two years of unlawful use of the service by the Russian military, which had major consequences for its communications capabilities.
- Since 2022, relations between Ukraine and Musk had been largely managed by Mykhailo Fedorov, the former defense minister dismissed by Zelensky in July.
- He had played an active role from the outset of the war in getting Starlink terminals up and running.
- According to a source close to Fedorov — who has since drawn closer to several American tech figures, including Palantir CEO Alex Karp — the former minister is said to have kept a line of communication with Musk to discuss Starlink.
The restrictions SpaceX imposed on the Ukrainian armed forces are not expected to have a direct impact on long-range strikes targeting energy infrastructure inside Russia, where Starlink usage had already been limited. They could, however, provide additional leverage for the Trump administration to push for an end to these strikes.
- Moscow rejects the notion that Ukrainian strikes are the primary reason for rising diesel prices.
- On Monday the 12th, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko said that the key to a stable fuel supply in the United States lay in “the settlement of the conflict around Iran.”
- That same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Alexander Novak said that it was “the problems in the Strait of Hormuz” that destabilized American and global diesel markets.