Ukraine accuses SpaceX of quietly throttling Starlink access

Ukraine says air defense operations are being impacted by unannounced limitations on SpaceX satellites, The Hill reports.

Presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said on Telegram that limits on Starlink’s services in Ukraine occurred without warning, as first reported by Reuters.

A source familiar with the matter told the outlet that Ukrainian drones, airplanes and helicopters were affected, with Starlink services cut off for objects travelling faster than 100 miles per hour, hampering Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian-launched explosive drones. “This will also give Russians a real leverage on a frontline at the time when we effectively stopped their advances,” the source said.

The development comes as the Trump administration pressures Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Trump says are driving up US diesel prices.

Zelensky told NPR that Trump had floated blocking intelligence sharing with Kyiv until the strikes stopped, adding that Ukraine had not received US warnings on Russian ballistic missile threats over the past two nights, which he described as a “technical glitch.”

Zelensky has defended the strikes on Russian energy infrastructure as responses to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, and said he learned of Trump’s proposed Russia-Ukraine energy ceasefire through the president’s social media account.