Ukraine says Starlink and Starshield speeds are back to normal after a week of throttling, as Musk accuses Kyiv of rule violations

Summary

Ukraine said on Saturday, October 24, that Starlink and its military version, Starshield, were running at high speeds again after more than a week of restrictions imposed by SpaceX that had hampered Ukraine's drone forces since October 14. President Volodymyr Zelensky said speeds started returning to normal overnight, and Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said the connection had been restored at high speed. Ukrainian officials described the connection as 'now stable'. Elon Musk has said SpaceX throttled Ukraine's Starlink speeds over drone strikes. In his first comments since the disruption, Musk said Ukraine had violated Starlink's rules, according to The New York Times. Starshield, a Pentagon-funded service, has become the backbone of Ukraine's drone operations.

Timeline

1. Straits Times

   24 Oct 2026, 09:16 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Zelensky said on October 24 that Starlink speeds started returning to normal overnight, and that Musk accused Ukraine of Starlink violations after Kyiv said speeds were back to normal.

2. Hindustan Times

   24 Oct 2026, 10:00 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that speed restrictions imposed by SpaceX have hampered Ukraine's drone forces since October 14, and that Kyiv says its military Starlink is working again.

3. Politico

   24 Oct 2026, 10:09 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Ukraine's defence minister says the Starlink connection has been restored at high speed after SpaceX's satellite internet service had been restricted since last week.

4. BBC

   24 Oct 2026, 11:17 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Ukraine says the Starlink connection is 'now stable' after network limits that affected its military and drone operations for a week.

5. CBS News

   24 Oct 2026, 21:23 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Elon Musk says SpaceX throttled Ukraine's Starlink speeds over drone strikes, and that SpaceX's military-grade Starshield has become the backbone of Ukraine's drone operations.

6. The New York Times

   25 Oct 2026, 08:54 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Elon Musk, in his first comments since the disruption, said Ukraine violated Starlink's rules, after Ukraine said drones using Starshield were back to normal speeds.