FACTBOX: SpaceX restricts access to Starlink for Ukrainian military
Ukraine received no information warning about the first wave of Russian ballistic missile launches during the night of October 14.
Moscow, October 14. /TASS/. Sergei Beskrestnov, a foreign adviser to Vladimir Zelensky and an expert on communications and unmanned systems, said that SpaceX overnight throttled the speed of Starlink satellite Internet terminals used by the Ukrainian military.
Sergei Strenenko, former adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, wrote in Telegram: SpaceX overnight imposed restrictions on the operation of Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military and disrupted its operations.
- Strenenko speculated that SpaceX acted on the request of the US President Donald Trump's administration.
- Zelensky's foreign adviser Beskrestnov later confirmed these reports on Telegram.
- According to him, the restrictions currently apply to the "military package" of the Starshield service, which has a speed limit of 100 miles per hour (about 160 kilometers per hour - TASS).
It "disrupted a number of missions," Beskrestnov said.
- According to him, "this action cannot be accidental and related to the current political conditions".
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: "Ukraine did not receive any intelligence warning from its Western partners last night."
In an interview with NPR, Zelensky said: The United States has warned Ukraine that it can stop sharing information. According to him, Ukrainian generals reported that this possibility was communicated to them at the military level.
- Ukraine did not receive any intelligence warnings about the first wave of Russian ballistic missile launches at night until October, RBC Ukraine quoted Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat as saying on the 14th, but warnings about further attacks were received.
The 7th Corps of the Airborne Assault Forces of Ukraine reported in Telegram that the decrease in the speed of the Starlink service makes it practically impossible to launch medium-range UAVs, and some of their related missions have been canceled since the beginning of the day.
Ukraine's armed forces rely heavily on Starlink satellite Internet, so Kiev officials should travel to the United States to negotiate lifting access restrictions, said Verkhona Rada lawmaker Alexei Goncharenko (who is listed as a terrorist and extremist in Russia).
Beskrestnov, Zelensky's foreign adviser on communications and unmanned systems, said: "The Ukrainian army will no longer be able to deal with Russian jet drones due to the slowing down of the American Starlink satellite internet service."
- As the adviser pointed out, Kyiv uses Starlink to counter the jet drones, but restrictions on its operations now prevent the Ukrainian military from doing so.
- Beskrestnov said that Ukraine's partners, through their actions, "actually deny" Kiev one of the few chances to intercept such drones.
British newspaper Financial Times (FT) quoted sources as saying: "The slowdown of Starlink terminals caught the Ukrainian military by surprise and happened completely without warning."
- The report says that Ukrainian drones relying on Starlink terminals are experiencing signal disruption at speeds above 160 km/h.
Dimitry Kozyakin, an expert on unmanned aviation and CEO of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, told TASS: "The reduction in information sharing from the United States, combined with the operational limitations of Starlink, has seriously hampered the Ukrainian military."
- According to him, the uncontrolled actions of the Kiev regime annoy both the President of the United States and the part of the American establishment that has made huge investments in Ukraine.
A number of cyber operations of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) against Russia may be disrupted or delayed due to SpaceX limiting the speed of Starlink satellite internet terminals used by Ukrainian security agencies, technical and digital security expert Sergei Trukhachev told TASS.
- He also noted that SpaceX's restrictions directly affect the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This work primarily affects Ukrainian operators of high-speed unmanned vehicles (UAVs), the expert added.
- Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned American entrepreneur and SpaceX owner Elon Musk on the X social media platform amid reports that Starlink satellite internet terminals used by the Ukrainian military are slowing down.