Kyiv, Ukraine —
Ukrainian authorities say Starlink has restricted some military internet services, disrupting operations, amid an escalating conflict with the Trump administration.
Ukrainian authorities said they were caught off guard by restrictions on Elon Musk’s military version of Starlink, called StarShield.
The StarShield system is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, and limits on its speed and use are up to the U.S. military and the president, SpaceX CEO Musk said on social media platform X, adding that Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX and is limited to civilian and defense operations.
Musk said Starlink “is inappropriate as a commercial enterprise and cannot be used for offensive military operations.”
The decision to restrict Ukrainians’ access to StarShield was not a high-level U.S. policy decision, according to two U.S. officials.
CNN has asked the White House for comment on Musk’s comments about Starshield.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian military was trying to take advantage of the Starlink disruption. Russia launched 124 drones during the night and another 145 during the day, with President Zelenskiy calling it “one of the largest attacks.”
“It is clear that Russia is trying to exploit Ukraine’s Starlink problems, since our interceptor drones depend on this connection, among other things,” he posted on X.
The Starlink confusion has been compounded by recent reports of disruption from the Ukrainian government, which is sharing information from allies to warn of missile attacks.
This comes after the Trump administration warned Ukraine over the weekend that the United States could halt intelligence sharing and European purchases of American weapons for Ukraine if Kiev did not halt long-range attacks on Russian energy facilities.
Information provided by the United States and other partners is helping Ukraine protect itself from Russian ballistic missile attacks by providing data on the location of missile launchers and when and where attacks will go.
Late Tuesday, President Zelenskiy said the government “did not receive early warning from partners” before the deadly ballistic missile attack hit Kiev’s main power plant and damaged residential buildings.
However, President Trump said in response to questions early Tuesday that the United States has not stopped sharing information with Ukraine. “We are supporting them, we are sharing information. We want to end the war, so we are working with them and Russia to end the war,” he said.
“The situation has become quite complicated,” a Ukrainian military official with direct knowledge of day-to-day operations affected by Starlink told CNN.
A military official said, “We are looking into the connectivity issue in detail. The front lines and occupied territories will be affected.” “We were preparing for this.”
“This situation significantly complicates logistics, unmanned systems, military operations, medium-range attacks, etc.,” a Ukrainian Defense Ministry official told CNN.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense is in contact with the U.S., SpaceX and NATO allies to test and implement backup communication channels, the official said.
CNN has reached out to the White House, the Department of Defense, and Starlink’s parent company SpaceX for comment.
Musk criticized the Ukrainian president in a post on X on Saturday, saying “Zelenskyy went too far” regarding the attack on a Russian fuel facility.
CNN has also reached out to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense for comment.
People familiar with the matter told CNN that the Starshield issue has been shared with U.S. lawmakers. The Ukrainian military learned about the StarShield terminal speed limit from SpaceX customer support after it complained about operational issues, officials said, and SpaceX did not warn it in advance.
The official said the restrictions apply to vehicles and other military hardware moving at speeds of 160 miles per hour or more, at which point Starlink terminals would lose communication with those assets, the official said.
Sources say this complicates Ukraine’s drone missions, especially interceptor and medium-range attack drones. It will also reduce the military’s front-line logistics, communications, reconnaissance, and aircraft and helicopter operational capabilities.
Given the operational importance of the StarShield connection, the Ukrainian government asked SpaceX to explain the reasons for the change and identify ways to restore service capabilities that were available under the previous arrangement, sources told CNN. These arrangements were contracted through the U.S. government until mid-May 2027. Kiev has not yet received a response from SpaceX, the source said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia had no further information about the Starlink disruption in Ukraine. He also said the Kremlin was “carefully following” reports of changes in Washington’s support for Kiev, adding that it was “too early to draw any systematic conclusions.”
Meanwhile, another major Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure left more than 600,000 people without power early Wednesday, Zelenskiy said.
President Zelenskiy said Russia fired more than 120 drones and 39 ballistic missiles in Kiev and Kharkiv, specifically targeting energy facilities, causing widespread power outages and “significant damage” to oil and gas facilities.
These are “the very infrastructures that are subject to the ceasefire announced by the President of the United States,” he wrote, referring to the surprise “energy ceasefire” announced by President Donald Trump over the weekend.
CNN journalists in the capital reported hearing multiple explosions.
At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in attacks overnight and early Wednesday, according to local Ukrainian officials in several affected regions.
“This is completely unjust,” Zelenskiy said. “They (Russia) are destroying our energy infrastructure, and Ukraine did not even receive early warning of the ballistic missile launch.”
Sharing information does not guarantee protection. Russian ballistic missiles can reach Kiev in just minutes, leaving little time to react. In several recent attacks, air raid sirens sounded at the same time as the initial explosion.
For months, President Zelenskiy has called on partners to help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses, particularly its ballistic missile interceptors, one of the few weapons capable of shooting down ballistic missiles that travel faster than the speed of sound.
The initiative took place on Wednesday, when Zelenskiy held two separate meetings in London with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and King Charles. Zelenskiy, speaking to reporters alongside Burnham in Downing Street, described Starlink’s restrictions as “unfortunate” and insisted: “We look forward to a partnership with the United States.”
Zelenskiy’s presidential aide Beskhrestnov had warned that Starlink was also used to operate interceptor drones to protect Ukrainian airspace from Russian jet-powered drones.
Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have raised further questions about the so-called “energy ceasefire” announced by President Trump on Sunday, which appears to have taken both Kiev and Moscow by surprise. After the US leftist announcement, President Zelenskiy said he supported the ceasefire, even though he did not know about it beforehand.
By Monday, Zelenskyy said Russia had already violated the cease-fire agreement with new attacks, but said he was willing to abide by the agreement if Russia also abided by it.
“I’ll let you know about that later,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday when asked if Russia had violated the ceasefire, according to Reuters.
After several days of silence, the Kremlin finally mentioned an “energy ceasefire” on Wednesday, questioning the details of the U.S. proposal and saying “work in this direction continues.”
With little movement on the ground front, Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure in recent months.
According to Russian news agency Interfax, Russia’s Ministry of Defense also announced that it had shot down 902 drones overnight.
