Ukrainian soldiers in combat have access to Starlink satellite internet restricted

Ukrainian soldiers in combat have suddenly had their access to Starlink satellite internet terminals restricted as the Trump administration has increased pressure on Ukraine to halt long-range strikes on Russia’s oil industry immediately.

The terminals, which are distributed and managed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, are a key component of Ukraine’s military operations and the sudden restrictions on the high-speed terminals on Tuesday evening led to the failure of several combat missions, said an adviser on military technology to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The sudden outage came as Russia launched ballistic missiles at Ukraine without any advance warning from the US for a second night. For years the US has provided Ukraine with intelligence when strikes were about to take place.

Terminals travelling at more than 100mph and using a version of Starlink for the military and other national security agencies suddenly lost connectivity, said Serhiy Beskrestnov, in what appeared to be a targeted outage meant to disrupt military operations.

“Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions and this led to the failure of a number of missions,” said Beskrestnov, who is also a popular military blogger. “It’s clear that this action cannot be a coincidence and is connected to the current political situation.”

Musk, an ally of Trump, had previously cut off Starlink service to Ukrainian soldiers during an offensive that took a small amount of Russian territory.

Serhii Sternenko, a political activist with close ties to the military, first reported the outage and later said that the speeds at which the loss of connectivity occurred had fallen even lower. “It is likely that the company ‘SpaceX’ resorted to such measures at the request of the Trump administration,” he said. “Ordinary satellite communication terminals are currently operational.”

Trump has demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries, which he has blamed for the high cost of diesel, although most analysts say that the closure of the strait of Hormuz has had a far larger impact on global energy prices.

Zelenskyy had suggested, though not said, that the US was intentionally withholding intelligence from Ukraine about impending Russian missile strikes.

Russia carried out a massive strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure late on Tuesday evening, Zelenskyy said, launching 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones against Kyiv and Kharkiv. The strikes hit several power plants and key substations that carry electricity to the capital, including from a major power plant.

“The strike was entirely deliberate and demonstrative in its scale – Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States,” he said. “Russia does not consider the American president’s statements strong.”

At least 600,000 people were now without power, he said, adding that outages could become even more widespread.