KIEV, Oct. 15 — Ukraine said U.S. aerospace company SpaceX restricted Starlink services on Wednesday, hampering the country’s attack and air-defense drone missions.
SpaceX introduced speed limits for Starlink terminals in Ukraine, Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said Wednesday on Telegram.
“Our defense forces received no warning of such a restriction, and this led to the disruption of a number of missions,” he said, suggesting that the move could be linked to the “current political situation.”
Regarding the restriction on the military version of Starlink services in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “It’s a big mistake… This decision will bring a lot of human losses.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the U.S. government controlled the speed of the satellite communications system and that any limits on the system’s speed or usage were decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the U.S. president.
Trump said on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on energy targets, although neither side confirmed the agreement.
The developments came as Russia launched more missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, hitting energy and critical infrastructure and leaving at least 600,000 people without power, according to Zelensky.
After a night of bombardment of Kiev, Russian strikes continued throughout Wednesday, with six people killed in the western city of Lutsk, according to local officials.
Ukraine, for its part, continued long-range strikes on Russia, hitting Russia’s biggest data center, but said it was holding back from hitting energy targets for now to show respect for Trump.
Ukraine has also accused the United States of helping Russia by failing to warn it of incoming missile strikes.(Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
