Ukraine says restrictions on its military’s Starlink satellite connections have been lifted after more than a week of disruption that hampered drone operations against Russian forces.
Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield connections were stable on equipment travelling above 400km/h (250mph). He credited talks with Washington and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s diplomacy.
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Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links had been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted front-line operations for more than a week.
“The speeds are now where they need to be,” he said on X. “The restoration began overnight, and by this morning, speeds were already sufficient.”
Ukraine relies heavily on Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite services for communications and drone missions. However, who ordered the restrictions had been unclear, with US President Donald Trump denying responsibility while defending Musk.
Hours after Ukraine announced the connection was back to normal, Musk admitted his company SpaceX had throttled the satellite service in Ukraine.
“Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,” he said in a post on X.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” he said. “Starshield, a different system, is controlled by the US government. What they decide to do is up to them.”
Musk went on to say that Ukraine’s front line would “collapse immediately” if Starlink were turned off. “SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR,” he wrote.
The disruption further strained relations between Kyiv and Washington, already under pressure over Trump’s agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports.
Trump also called earlier this month for Ukraine to have a new president, then suggested on Monday that someone other than Zelenskyy should negotiate for Kyiv. The exchanges follow their public confrontation at the White House in February 2025.
Talks planned in Abu Dhabi
The lifting of the Starlink restrictions comes as the US seeks to revive negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv to end Russia’s war on its neighbour.
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned negotiations on Friday, while Zelenskyy also announced agreement on technical-level meetings.
It comes as Trump credited his wife, Melania Trump, with securing a local ceasefire in Oleshky, in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, which Russian forces have occupied since 2022.
Subsequent statements by Ukraine and Russia say the ceasefire will begin on October 27, with a humanitarian operation planned for October 29.
Deadly attacks continue
A Russian missile strike on Lozova, in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, killed a man and wounded two others on Saturday, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack killed at least three people and injured eight others in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, according to acting Governor Vladyslav Haivanenko.
The strikes followed other Russian attacks on Friday, including in Kramatorsk, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where one person was killed and six others wounded, including three children, according to officials. In nearby Sloviansk, attacks also killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four people, Mayor Vadym Lyakh said.
Ukraine reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and overnight into Saturday, including an attack on Togliatti’s Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant, a major synthetic rubber producer. Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage, but reported no casualties.
Ukrainian company Fire Point also said its drones were used to strike a petrochemical plant and a warehouse belonging to online retailer Ozon in Omsk on Saturday. Hours earlier, Omsk Governor Vitaly Khotsenko said Ukrainian drones had targeted an industrial area.
Kyiv also claimed strikes on the Proton electronics plant in Russia’s Oryol, which Ukraine says makes missile components. Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths in an attack on an unidentified facility.
Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts after overnight Ukrainian attacks.
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