President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s military experienced a renewed wave of significant disruptions to the Starshield satellite internet service, hampering its ability to defend against Russian attacks.
Speed Limits Impact Drones
The speed limitations on Starshield terminals were imposed across the entire front line and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The restrictions capped terminal speeds at 100 miles per hour, or 161 kilometers per hour, disconnecting any device operating faster.
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Craig Albert, the graduate director of national defense studies at Augusta University, explained that decreasing the speed slows down Ukraine’s offensive drones, turning them into targets for faster Russian interceptors. It also degrades air defense systems, allowing Russian drones to breach defenses.
“Unfortunately, our units have been recording significant malfunctions in Starshield’s operation over Ukraine’s territory for several days now: along the entire front line and in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory,” Zelenskyy wrote.
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“Ukrainian military personnel have already investigated the circumstances, and these are not random errors but a systemic speed restriction. For us, this primarily means a significant increase in the difficulty of intercepting Russian jet-powered drones,” Zelenskyy added.
Speaking at the presidential palace in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that the restrictions affecting Ukrainian drones had been in place for five days.
A Ukrainian official told Axios that the restrictions progressively worsened, noting that on the first day there were ten percent limitations, on the second day fifty percent, and subsequently one hundred percent of missions failed because of the curbs. Zelenskyy said that the normal operating speed exceeds roughly 250 miles per hour.
The service limitations directly affected Ukraine’s mid-range strikes against military targets located in Russian-occupied territory, according to the Ukrainian leader. Zelenskyy instructed his military leadership, along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, to raise the issue with SpaceX, the Pentagon, and the United States Department of State. Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, also addressed the ongoing disruptions on November 14.
Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense adviser to Zelenskyy, confirmed that the speed of Starlink operation during movement was restricted once again. Describing the situation, Beskrestnov said that the country did not rejoice for long after previous services resumed in mid-October.
Attacks continued across the nation during the outages. Ukrainian authorities reported that a Russian drone strike on an apartment building in Kyiv killed one woman, while energy infrastructure in Rivne was struck, leaving residents without power in falling temperatures.
⚡️ Starshield restrictions hamper Ukraine's ability to defend energy infrastructure from Russian drones, Zelensky says. "Russian forces are targeting substations with Shahed drones. And many of these strikes get through precisely because speed restrictions remain in place for…
In the Odesa region, a separate Russian strike killed three people, and agricultural facilities and other targets experienced heavy bombardment. Zelenskyy reported that over the preceding week, Russia had deployed more than 2,300 attack drones, 1,590 guided aerial bombs, and 15 missiles against Ukraine.
Senators Demand SpaceX Preserve Records Regarding Internet Disruptions
SpaceX has denied altering internet speeds. U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Chris Coons sent a letter to CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, demanding the preservation of all documents and communications relating to the disruptions.
The congressional letter asked for records dating back to September 1, encompassing any exchanges involving Musk, SpaceX executives, Ukrainian officials, the White House, and the Pentagon. The lawmakers requested written confirmation by November 30, 2026, that all appropriate preservation measures had been successfully implemented.
The letter from the U.S. senators said that renewed disruptions to Starshield across the entire front line and Russian-occupied regions hindered Ukraine’s defensive capabilities and put civilian lives at risk. The senators said that the restrictions prevented Ukrainian defensive systems from maintaining the connectivity speeds required to intercept incoming threats.
European officials also criticized the limitations as European political leaders met with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Thomas Regnier, a spokesperson for the European Commission, urged immediate restoration at a Brussels news conference.