Ukraine confirms Starlink drone links stable at 400 km/h after week of silence
Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara says satellite connections are back online for high-speed military assets, ending a disruption that complicated operations against Russian forces.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
Ukraine says the satellite restrictions on its military drones have been lifted, ending more than a week of disruption that hampered operations against Russian forces.
Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield connections are stable on equipment moving at speeds exceeding 400 kilometres per hour. He credited discussions with Washington and the diplomatic efforts of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the resolution. The restoration follows a period of uncertainty where it remained unclear who ordered the initial cutoff, with US President Donald Trump denying responsibility while defending Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX.
The incident has added tension to an already strained relationship between Kyiv and Washington. Pressure grew after Trump agreed to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports. Earlier in the month, Trump called for a new Ukrainian president and suggested on Monday that someone other than Zelenskyy should handle negotiations for Kyiv. These exchanges follow a public confrontation at the White House in February 2025.
The return of service arrives as the United States attempts to restart peace talks. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the US are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned meetings on Friday, while Zelenskyy announced agreement on technical-level discussions. This timeline marks more than four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Trump also claimed that his wife, Melania Trump, helped secure a local ceasefire in Oleshky, a town in the Kherson region occupied by Russian forces since 2022. Ukrainian and Russian statements later set the ceasefire start date for October 27, with a humanitarian operation planned for October 29.
Fighting continued in other areas during the outage. A Russian missile strike on Lozova in the Kharkiv region killed one man and wounded two others on Saturday, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. In Chernihiv, a Friday attack killed a man and wounded at least 25 people. In the Donetsk region, shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children. Sloviansk Mayor Vadym Lyakh reported that attacks in his city killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four others on Friday.
Ukraine reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and into Saturday. These included a hit on the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti, a major synthetic rubber producer, where Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage but no casualties. Ukraine also claimed a strike on the Proton electronics plant in Oryol, which it says manufactures missile components. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths from an attack on an unidentified facility. Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts following overnight Ukrainian attacks. Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that air defences intercepted one SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles, and 1,297 fixed-wing drones over 24 hours, according to TASS.
