According to Ukrainian reports, the US space company SpaceX has restricted the use of its Starlink satellite network for the Ukrainian military. The military version of the communications service no longer works at speeds above 160 kilometres per hour, Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov announced on Wednesday, 14 October, on Telegram. This has impaired combat missions.
“Our defence forces received no advance warning of this restriction, and this has led to the interruption of several missions,” wrote Beskrestnov. An insider from the 7th Rapid Response Corps deployed on the south-eastern front confirmed outages in the Starlink connections. The Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko reported, citing soldiers, that the connection for some users now drops out at just 60 to 70 kilometres per hour. Sternenko suspects that SpaceX introduced the restrictions at the behest of the US government. Evidence of a political motive has not yet been published.
According to Beskrestnov, the restriction affects the military service Starshield and sets a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour for moving terminals. According to Sternenko, ordinary Starlink terminals continue to work. The Ukrainian military blogger and drone procurer explained that drone operations had been possible at speeds of 160 kilometres per hour and more. The restriction is likely to further limit use on drones and vehicles.
A pattern that repeats itself
The timing of the restriction falls in a tense phase of relations between Kyiv and Washington. On 11 October, US President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia without warning. Previously, on 9 October, he had concluded an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the supply of Russian diesel to the USA. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called this agreement a weak decision; Trump then demanded that Zelensky must be re-elected.
Ukraine stated that it had not fired at Russian energy facilities for two days, while Russia violated the agreement. Zelensky also pointed out that the partners and the USA had not shared information about possible Russian attacks for two days in a row. Western media reported that the USA could stop sharing intelligence information with Ukraine as a means of pressure. Such a practice already existed in the winter and spring of 2025, when Starlink was also switched off. Trump claims that the exchange of intelligence information has not been interrupted.
Hardly any missiles intercepted
In the night to Wednesday, Russia again attacked Ukraine massively. According to the Ukrainian president, Russia deployed 39 ballistic missiles and more than 102 drones against the energy supply and critical infrastructure. There is considerable damage to 26 facilities in the power supply sector and four objects in the oil and gas sector. At least 600,000 households are without power, wrote Zelensky. The Ukrainian air force announced that only four of 39 Russian missiles could be intercepted during the night.
Zelensky complained that Ukraine had again not been warned about the missiles from Russia. “And it is not fair at all when they (the Russians) destroy energy facilities and Ukraine does not even receive warnings about the launch of ballistic missiles,” he wrote. The main target of the attack was energy facilities, including a combined heat and power plant. Ukraine relies on foreign intelligence information for the early detection of missile launches; the USA has the best satellite surveillance.
When asked by a reporter what he had to say about Russia violating the energy ceasefire he himself had announced, US President Trump said: “Well, I would have to look at that first, because there were violations on both sides.” Asked how he wanted to persuade Putin to adhere to the ceasefire, Trump said he believed that Putin wanted to reach an agreement – and that the Ukrainian president had to be brought to want that too. “I actually believe that Putin is more interested in making a deal than Zelensky,” said Trump.
The former Austrian diplomat Klemens Fischer considers the energy ceasefire proposed by the USA to be unrealistic. “The probability that Russia will adhere to it is low,” said the geopolitics professor at the University of Cologne in the podcast “Handelsblatt Today”. Russia sees the winter as a means of pressure, and the Ukrainian energy infrastructure is already at least 80 per cent destroyed. Fischer warned that the coming months could become “the most terrible war winter for Ukraine”. A stop to US arms deliveries threatened by Trump would make Ukraine “no longer capable of defending itself in the medium term”. The sanctions decided by the EU on Wednesday are indeed painful for Russia, but sanctions have “never yet ended a war”.
Editor’s note: The restriction of the Starlink service coincides in time with the end of the US intelligence exchange, which Western media describe as a means of pressure. Whether there is a direct connection cannot be proven from the available sources.
