Zelensky accuses SpaceX of capping Starshield speeds over occupied Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said SpaceX has capped the maximum speed of its military-grade Starshield satellite terminals in temporarily Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine at 161 kph for the past five days, undermining the country's air defences.

Zelensky said the limit hampered Ukraine's military capabilities and made it harder for air defence units to intercept Russian jet-powered drones, leaving Ukrainian cities more vulnerable. He ordered his top military and Foreign Ministry officials to address the issue and seek clarification.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has raised the issue with SpaceX at the institutional level, he said.

"The restrictions have now been in place for five days," Zelensky told reporters in remarks released by his office on Saturday. He said SpaceX claims it is some kind of technical issue, but "we do not believe that is the case."

He said the cap carried political implications, arguing that imposing restrictions there means "you are already partially recognising the temporarily occupied territories as not ours," and that is why he believes Ukraine has the right to raise this issue and restore the speed so that there are no restrictions at all.

SpaceX has pushed back, denying that it introduced new restrictions or made any changes to its satellite operations.

It is the second such outage in recent weeks. In mid-October, Ukrainian officials said SpaceX limited the speed of Starlink and Starshield systems to about 160 kph (100 mph) as tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration rose over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Service was restored on Oct. 24.