What Is Starshield, and Who Has Restricted Ukraine's Access to It?

Ukraine relies on Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service, to fight Russia.

A Ukrainian Defense Ministry source says connectivity to Ukraine's Starshield military satellite has been restored just days after the US cut the service.

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End of the list Ukraine relies on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX's Internet service Starlink, to deliver information amid its war with Russia.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has denied the company's involvement and suggested that only the US government could have disrupted it, despite President Donald Trump's insistence that Washington continues to share information with Kiev.

StarShield is a sister service to StarLink, a constellation of 11,000 satellites placed in low-Earth orbit by SpaceX to provide high-speed Internet connectivity even in remote areas.

Launched in 2022 and provided to the US government, Starshield is designed for military use as it allows for deeper encryption to process sensitive information. SpaceX says it is primarily used by U.S. defense agencies and other "government partners."

Ukraine's military relies on Starshield, especially to guide its drones, which it relies heavily on to attack Russia.

What happened to Ukraine's access to Starshield?

On Tuesday, Ukrainian defense officials said they had lost access to critical satellite communications and that the disruptions had affected military missions. It followed heavy strikes by Russia, which hit the country with more than 100 drones and five ballistic missiles, and Ukraine said it had received no advance warning.

President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X: "Information about the launch of Russian ballistic missiles helps save lives, and this is one of the most critical issues. This is exactly what helps prevent people from dying - when there is an early warning about ballistic missiles."

Zelenskyy's defense adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov posted on Telegram that SpaceX has also imposed speed limits on Starlink terminals, limiting internet speeds to 100 mph (160 km/h).

This meant that any drone or missile flying faster than 100 miles per hour lost its guidance link.

He stated that "our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions and this led to the failure of a number of missions", adding that this is clearly "related to the current political situation".

Officials said the restrictions also reduce the capabilities of front-line logistics, detection and signal transmission.

On Wednesday, Musk denied any involvement in the incident, stressing that the service is "controlled by the US government."

In response to a post on X by ex-Ukrainemask, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who said speed limits would be lifted and called for unlimited internet speeds, wrote: "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government."

"Any limitations on speed or use are decided by the US military and ultimately the POTUS," he said, referring to the US president.

Musk also clarified that Starlink is for "civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as it would be inappropriate for a commercial enterprise to do so" — an apparent attempt to differentiate it from StarShield, which Kiev also deploys but is not authorized to use for offensive operations.

Last year, Starlink cut off access to Russian forces who were secretly using the service on the battlefront in Ukraine.

The SpaceX chief has shown an active interest since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, but he has not been very favorable to Kiev. In 2022 - just after Russia invaded Ukraine - he proposed a "peace plan" under which Kiev would end its claim to Russian-occupied Crimea, ending hopes of joining NATO. Zelensky criticized Musk's comments and tensions between the two continue.

On Sunday, the billionaire, who is also the CEO of Tesla and owns X, said Zelensky "has gone too far" in response to Trump's comments that the Ukrainian president should step down.

On Wednesday, Musk appeared to blame Zelensky for the death in the war. "And so the killing goes on, Zelensky goes," he wrote in X.

Does Ukraine blame the US for information restrictions?

Ukrainian officials have complained that the country received no warning about Russian ballistic missile attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Usually, the US provides critical early warnings that allow Kiev to issue an evacuation order.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, Zelensky said US military officials had previously warned Kiev that Washington would withhold information unless attacks on Russian energy infrastructure stopped.

The Ukrainian leader added that he rejected suggestions that the Starshield incident might have been a malfunction. This was not a technical problem. This was the will."

Why might the US restrict information from Ukraine?

Tensions between Kiev and Washington have escalated since Trump took office last year over a range of issues, including arms transfers and the United States' growing rapprochement with Russia.

In recent weeks, Washington has pressured Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries to allow more oil to enter global markets. In particular, Trump has sought to blame Ukraine's attacks on Russian gas facilities as the cause of global fuel price increases ahead of November's midterm elections.

Trump said last week that despite existing sanctions on Russian oil, he had agreed with US President Vladimir Putin to supply Russian diesel reserves to US and global markets.

Zelensky criticized this action and said that it would be the audacity of Putin

Over the weekend, Trump unilaterally announced an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine, apparently without consulting Zelensky, who told reporters the deal was "news" to me. Russia did not approve it either. Trump angrily called on Ukraine to replace its president, blaming Ukraine's attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure for disrupting global energy.

Ukraine said it had in fact refrained from attacking Russian refineries and would continue to do so if Russia did the same. However, Russian attacks continue. Zelensky said on Wednesday that attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure had caused blackouts for 600,000 people.

"We're done," Ukraine's president told the FT, confirming that Kiev had since resumed attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.