Ukraine still reports Starlink outages despite Trump’s claim limits lifted

Ukraine’s defence ministry says Starlink internet uplinks are still being lost, even after President Donald Trump said Elon Musk had removed the limits. Sources told the BBC that drones flying at 161 km/h (100 mph) are repeatedly dropping their connection, slowing attack and defensive operations. The president earlier denied telling Musk to restrict the military‑grade Starshield service, then later said Musk had “put it back”. Musk himself has said he did not cause the slowdown and suggested the Pentagon might be behind the issue. Kyiv confirmed it monitors both Starlink and Starshield performance and noted there is no confirmation that any restrictions have been lifted. Last week the ministry reported that any drone faster than 100 mph lost its link, a problem that surfaced after a diplomatic row over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities. Trump, facing U.S. mid‑term elections, has eased some Russia sanctions and approved diesel imports, moves criticised by Kyiv and European allies. Zelensky warned the U.S. had threatened to cut intelligence sharing if the strikes continued and said he was waiting for a response from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The White House repeatedly denied any deliberate limit on the network. The satellite constellations comprise about 10,000 low‑Earth‑orbit satellites and provide connectivity in remote battle zones, though Starlink cannot be used from Russian territory. ## Context