What happened
Ukraine's military is still running into Starlink limits on the battlefield, Kyiv's defence ministry told the BBC — undercutting Donald Trump's claim that full access had been restored.
Sources inside the ministry said they are recording cases of drones losing their Starlink connection at speeds above 161km/h (100mph), which they say is hampering operations. They added there is "currently no confirmation that these restrictions have been lifted."
Trump said Thursday that Elon Musk had reversed the limits. "Bottom line, he put it back," he said. He also denied ordering any restriction in the first place and declined to say whether he had called Musk about it.
Musk has said he was not behind the slowdown, suggesting the Pentagon could be responsible since Starshield — the military-grade service Ukraine also uses — is controlled by the US military. The White House has repeatedly denied deliberately limiting the network in Ukraine.
Kyiv first flagged the speed cap last week, just as its dispute with Trump over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure [boiled over](/article/russia-ready-to-resume-us-ukraine-talks).
Why it matters
Starlink and Starshield are the backbone of Ukraine's battlefield communications. The networks use roughly 10,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites to keep troops connected where cell towers are destroyed or never existed. Starshield lets Ukrainian drone operators see targets in real time and fly interceptor drones.
A 100mph cap matters because Ukraine's attack drones fly fast. When a drone loses its connection mid-flight, it can miss its target or be lost entirely. Russia is not authorized to use Starlink, so the network is one of Ukraine's clearest tech advantages.
The limits appeared during one of the ugliest public rows between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yet. Trump said Kyiv's refinery strikes pushed global fuel prices higher and suggested it was time for Ukraine to get a new president. Zelensky implied Trump was not a real leader. The two also clashed over intelligence sharing — Zelensky said the US threatened to cut it off if the refinery strikes didn't stop; Trump denied it.
What it means for the US
This is an American fight as much as a Ukrainian one. Starlink belongs to a US company. The claims about who restricted it came from the US president. And Starshield answers to the US military. Whether the restrictions were real, who ordered them, and why Ukraine still sees problems — all of it sits inside US decisions, and US credibility with allies hangs on the answers.
Gas prices are in the mix too. Trump argues the refinery strikes pushed prices higher, though the BBC's reporting attributes this year's fuel price rises mainly to the Iran war. Facing [midterm elections next month](/article/us-midterm-elections-2026-explained), Trump has waived some Russia sanctions and struck a deal to import Russian diesel for the US market — moves Ukraine and its European allies criticized. American drivers and voters will feel the fallout either way.
What happens next
Zelensky said Thursday the speed had still not been fully restored and that he was waiting on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who "promised to get back to me with information within 48 hours or so."
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump told Musk he was frustrated the speeds were still capped — and that the system was working closer to normal after their conversation. Ukraine's military says it is constantly monitoring both Starlink and Starshield.
Whether the speeds hold, and whether Kyiv and Washington can settle the refinery-strike row, will decide how this ends — just as [questions about the stalled Ukraine peace talks](/article/russia-ukraine-peace-talks-explained) keep piling up.
