Zelenskyy Says Starshield Speed Limit Leaves Ukraine Unable to Shoot Down Jet Drones
Rubio calls the slowdown accidental and says it has been restored, but Kyiv says it cannot confirm that and that no one at SpaceX or the Pentagon is answering.
Ukraine still cannot use its interceptor systems against Russian jet-powered drones because of speed restrictions on Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday, as a dispute with the Trump administration over the technology widened.
"Unfortunately, we can't use Starlink or Starshield technology on our territory today to shoot down jet-powered Shaheds," Zelenskyy told reporters in an online chat from the EU Summit. He said the connection cuts out once a platform passes a speed threshold. "Here Starlink works up to a speed of 161 km/h, then shuts off," he said. "In the EU it works at 180-plus and works constantly." He added that Ukraine loses both drones and connectivity when that happens, and that Kyiv has been told the cause is technical problems. "Nobody there is answering our military or the Ministry of Defense now," he said of SpaceX.
Ukrainian officials and soldiers told CBS News the military began having sudden trouble with Starshield equipment late Tuesday, including speed limits that made it harder to carry out missions with fast-moving drones. Sources in Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said SpaceX imposed the restrictions unilaterally. Musk wrote on X on Wednesday that Starshield systems are "owned and controlled by the US government" and that any limits "are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS." The same day he posted: "Time for Zelensky to go."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, said Starshield is a defense product used by the U.S. military and is not currently available to Ukraine. He said Ukraine's military has only ever used Starlink. Asked whether Washington was behind the slowdown, he said no. "I don't know what Zelenskyy said, I'm not sure Zelenskyy knows what he's talking about, but it wasn't deliberate," Rubio said. "Nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down. It sort of happened, but my understanding is it's been restored."
Denys Sienik, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Washington, told CBS News that Kyiv had received no response from the Pentagon or SpaceX to its inquiries, "including confirmation that unlimited speeds have been restored." Based on available data, he said, "we cannot confirm that these capabilities have been fully restored." President Trump told reporters Friday that he hadn't limited Ukraine's access and didn't think Musk had either: "It wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon."
The dispute lands as Russia keeps up its assault. Zelenskyy said Russia launched a large attack on Ukraine's energy sector Saturday, hitting more than 15 power generation and transmission sites. Trump has grown frustrated with Kyiv, blaming the war for high global energy prices. In a Newsmax interview he called Zelenskyy "not a good guy for us to deal with" and said, "I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy." Last week the administration waived restrictions on buying Russian diesel, which Zelenskyy called "unfortunate." He predicted more sanctions relief to come: "I believe the 'diesel deal' is just the first step."
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said enforcing the sanctions provisions now "would impede ongoing U.S. efforts to negotiate a durable and comprehensive peace agreement" between Ukraine and Russia. Trump had announced an "energy ceasefire" earlier, but Russia never confirmed it and its strikes continued.
