El Español reported on Oct. 19 that Ukrainian military Starlink terminals faced a speed ceiling of 100 mph (161 km/h), and attributed disruptions to military operations to the restriction. The reports also describe a separate dispute over who was responsible for the limit.
On Oct. 16, The Telegraph reported, citing four people familiar with discussions, that Elon Musk proposed slowing Starlink in Ukraine and Donald Trump agreed. Trump denied responsibility and said he did not think Musk was responsible, according to his public statement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said nobody ordered the slowdown.
What Ukrainian officials said the limit affected
El Español reported that the restriction affected Ukrainian attack drones, interceptors, reconnaissance flights and communications relay stations. Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov (Flash) said forces had received no warning before the limit and that several operations were interrupted.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately described Ukrainian tests in which Starlink terminals worked above 180 km/h in EU territory, while connections in Ukraine cut out above 161 km/h. Yahoo Finance reported his account. The figures refer to the tests Zelenskyy described, not a general service-speed specification.
The public accounts differ
The Telegraph report about a proposal involving Musk and Trump is an allegation attributed to four people familiar with discussions. Trump denied responsibility, and Rubio said no one had ordered Starlink’s speed to be reduced. Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s leadership believed the US government had made the decision and SpaceX had implemented it technically.
Musk’s public comments concerned limits on Starshield, SpaceX’s military-oriented service, which is distinct from Starlink, its satellite broadband service. He said the US military and ultimately the president decide Starshield’s speed or usage limits. Rubio’s statement on the slowdown is available in his public remarks.
Measures aimed at Russian use are a separate issue
A separate report concerns unauthorized Russian use of Starlink. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces were increasingly putting Starlink systems on attack drones to overcome Ukrainian electronic warfare. Elon Musk said measures to prevent that use appeared to be working, Ukrinform reported. That account concerns Russian access, not the reported speed limit on Ukrainian military terminals.
Europe’s alternatives
Semafor reported that an EU satellite project was not expected to begin launching satellites until 2029. It also cited an expert who described Amazon Leo as Europe’s next-best near-term option. The two systems appear in reporting about Europe’s options, not as established replacements for Ukraine’s military connectivity.
