Ukraine restores full Starlink access after brief restrictions

Ukraine's Defence Minister, Yevhenii Khmara, announced on Saturday that the country's access to Starlink is stable again, following several days of restricted connectivity. This restoration allows speeds of more than 400km/h on the satellite internet network, indicating that full capability has been restored. Khmara emphasized the importance of this result for the front, the soldiers, and the operation of drones, logistics, and communications. Ukraine's military depends heavily on Starlink and its military-grade counterpart, Starshield, for running operations inside the country.

Kyiv uses both the civilian Starlink service and the more secure Starshield, especially in remote parts of the battlefield. Musk has suggested that the recent problems may be due to the US military, as Starshield is controlled by the Pentagon. Russia is not authorized to use Starlink, so the network does not function when Ukraine sends long-range missiles or drones into Russian territory to hit oil refineries.

The dispute over Starlink emerged during a wider diplomatic row between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. With midterm elections due next month, Trump has waived some sanctions on Russia and agreed a deal to import Russian diesel for the US market. Ukraine and its European allies have criticized that move, and Trump argues that the strikes on Russian refineries have pushed global prices higher. Zelensky said that, besides apparently limiting Starlink in Ukraine, the US also threatened to withdraw intelligence sharing if the strikes did not stop. Trump denied that as well.

Fighting continues on the ground. Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday that its air defences shot down 616 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, which struck a number of regions including Russian-annexed Crimea. The region's Moscow-backed governor, Sergey Aksyonov, said restrictions on electricity and water were introduced because the drone strike caused power cuts. Ukrainian authorities said that in the past 24 hours they hit a missile component manufacturer, a chemical plant and an aircraft at a military airfield inside Russia. They also said Russia carried out 88 air strikes on Friday, using 309 glide bombs and 10,270 kamikaze drones.