KYIV, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Speed restrictions on Starlink communication systems in Ukraine remained in place, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s statement that the services had been fully restored.
Five Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter said that restrictions on Starlink that disrupt connections for drones flying faster than 160 km per hour persisted.
Trump said on Thursday that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had restored Ukraine’s Starlink access.
The caps have been in place since October 13 as relations between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated.
“We are currently not observing any lifting of speed limits on Starlink,” Serhiy Beskrestnov, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on the Telegram app.
“There are isolated instances where Starlink may travel slightly faster than the speed limit, but this is likely due to the SpaceX algorithm or specific usage conditions.”
A source from the Defence Ministry and two other Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter also confirmed the restrictions.
Ukraine’s problems with Starlink came after Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow. Trump also told Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russian oil refineries and said that Zelenskiy should be replaced.
Zelenskiy said that the restrictions complicated Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian jet drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. They also hampered Kyiv’s military efforts along the front line, where Starlink terminals were used to fly drones into occupied Ukrainian territory.
“Our people are waiting for positive news, hoping that the restrictions will be lifted and our defenders will have the capabilities they need to protect lives,” Denys Sienik from the Ukrainian embassy in the United States said in a post on X.
“Unfortunately, as of today, nothing has changed. We continue to wait.”
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Xevi Fontdegloria)
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