Ukraine claims Starlink is suddenly disrupting service for its military

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Ukrainian officials claim the Elon Musk-owned Starlink put new limits on its service in the area without warning, disrupting the country’s drone operations and missions, according to reports from Reuters and the Financial Times. The move comes just days after Musk wrote on X that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “has gone too far,” in response to President Donald Trump’s disapproval of Ukraine targeting Russian oil refineries.

“It is clear that this action is not coincidental and is related to the current political situation,” Ukrainian defense tech advisor Serhii Beskrestnov writes on Telegram.

Earlier this week, Russia launched a barrage of missiles that struck multiple power plants in Ukraine, despite the “energy ceasefire” Trump claimed that the two countries have reached. Zelenskyy said in a post on X that the military received “no advance warning from our partners about the ballistic missile launch.”

Beskrestnov writes that Starlink has imposed a new restriction that prevents it from connecting to devices traveling at over 100mph. He adds that this has “led to the disruption of several missions,” as reported by Reuters. The limitation is impacting Ukraine’s ability to protect itself from Russian drone strikes as well, Beskrestnov says.

The apparent Starlink restriction has begun to draw criticism from international leaders. Radosław Sikorski, the deputy prime minister of Poland, which pays for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription, issued a warning to Musk on X: “Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you.” SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

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