Ukraine says Starlink cap still holds

The dispute is not a vague one. Five Ukrainian officials told France 24 that speed limits on Starlink-linked systems were still preventing Ukrainian drones from flying faster than 160 kilometres per hour. Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Telegram that Kyiv was “currently not observing any lifting of speed limits on Starlink,” adding that isolated cases of slightly higher speeds were likely down to SpaceX’s algorithm or particular usage conditions, not a broader rollback.

Trump had said on Thursday that SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk had restored Ukraine’s Starlink access. Asked why the restrictions still remained, Trump said he had not yet spoken to Musk about the problem, but told reporters that if there was one, he would “get it straightened out.”

That leaves an awkward gap between what Washington says has been fixed and what Ukrainian officials say they are still living with. In a war, that kind of mismatch is not just embarrassing. It bears directly on what equipment can do at the moment it is needed.

France 24 reported that the caps had been in place since October 13, as relations between Kyiv and Washington soured. The outlet also reported that Ukraine’s problems with Starlink came after Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel, waived new sanctions on Moscow, told Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and said Zelensky should be replaced.

Zelensky said the restrictions had complicated efforts to repel Russian jet drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and had also hampered military operations along the front, where Starlink terminals were used to fly drones into occupied Ukrainian territory. Denys Sienik of the Ukrainian embassy in the United States wrote on X that Ukrainians were waiting for “positive news” and for defenders to regain the capabilities they needed “to protect lives,” but that “nothing has changed.”

What the available reporting supports is fairly specific. Ukrainian officials, including from the presidency and defence ministry, said the restrictions remained. Trump said access had been restored, then said he had not yet spoken to Musk about the continuing complaints. The cap, meanwhile, was still being felt where Ukraine says it counts.