Ukraine's military internet service experiences speed restrictions during Russian attacks

Ukraine's military lost access to full Starshield services for two days in mid-October 2026. Starshield is a military satellite internet service run by SpaceX. During the restrictions, drones could not travel faster than 160 kilometres per hour. Ukrainian officials said the slowdown happened without any warning on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some missions failed, and soldiers lost contact with their headquarters. Reuters reported that the White House approved the cuts. However, President Trump said on Friday that he had not ordered anything and that the service was working normally. Elon Musk said the U.S. government was responsible. Ukraine has depended on this satellite technology for drone operations since Russia invaded. Relations between Trump and President Zelenskyy had already been difficult before the incident.