Ukraine Says Its Starlink Drone Links Are Back at Full Speed Days After Trump Vowed to Fix It

Ukraine's military says its drones can fly at full speed again. On Saturday, Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced that SpaceX's Starlink and Starshield satellite links, which Ukrainian troops use to steer drones and run the front line, are working at full strength after nearly two weeks of speed limits. It came two days after President Trump told reporters the problem had been handled, and one day after he promised to get it "straightened out."

"The Ministry of Defense's monitoring systems indicate that Starlink/Starshield speeds have been restored," Khmara told reporters in WhatsApp messages, Politico Europe reported. "We are recording speeds exceeding 400 km/h, and the connection is stable." That is about 250 mph. "This outcome is of primary importance for the front line, our military personnel, the operation of drones, logistics, and communications," he added.

Ukraine's official army news service, ArmyInform, posted the ministry's statement on 𝕏, and the Associated Press, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Washington Examiner and Just the News followed through the morning.

A speed cap on a war machine

Starshield is the military-grade version of Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite internet network. Ukraine leans on both to fly attack drones, shoot down Russian drones and keep units in touch. Around Oct. 13 and 14, Ukrainian officials said the links began dropping whenever the equipment moved fast.

Think of a pursuit car fitted with a governor that cuts the engine at 100 mph, sent to chase something doing 280. Russia's jet-powered Shahed drones fly 280 mph or faster, and the cap was reportedly set at about 60 mph at first and later about 100 mph, RFE/RL reported. Interceptors that couldn't keep their signal couldn't catch them.

"Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored," senior Ukrainian official Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Oct. 14, tagging Musk. "Removing Starshield's speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine's defense."

Nobody in Washington ordered it

Musk answered Fedorov the same day. "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," he wrote. "Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX."

The administration said flatly it never asked for a slowdown. "I didn't do that. No, we didn't do that at all," Trump said on Oct. 16, according to Ars Technica. "We didn't slow it down at all." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon had changed nothing. "We haven't pulled anything back," he told reporters, CBS News reported. "We haven't made any directives or anything like that," adding that "we wish the Ukrainians, obviously, success." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Mumbai on Oct. 21 that neither "the president of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made."

Democrats rushed to make it a scandal anyway. Sen. Adam Schiff of California called for a full Senate investigation and wanted Musk to testify under oath, and Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said Musk should not be able to sway a war "with the flip of a switch," RFE/RL reported.

Trump made a call

Instead of an investigation, the fix came from the top. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Trump had called Musk and asked him to lift the limits, and that the system started working better right after they spoke, according to Reuters, via NBC News. Asked about it, Trump wouldn't say who made the call. "I don't want to comment on it, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference, I guess. The bottom line — he put it back."

Kyiv wasn't convinced yet. Zelenskyy said Thursday that speeds hadn't been restored, and Ukraine's top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, told RFE/RL on Friday, "There are still speed restrictions for Starshield in place." That same day, Trump said that "if there is a problem, I will get it straightened out," RFE/RL reported. By Saturday morning, the ministry was clocking stable links above 250 mph. Khmara called it proof of what "direct dialogue" can deliver.

Musk's bigger point

Musk, meanwhile, has been blunt about where he thinks the war money goes. "What's actually going on in Ukraine is that there is a massive incentive difference between the elites and the people," he posted Friday. "The former have grown very rich off the hundreds of billions flowing to Ukraine, while the latter's children are conscripted to die in trenches." The post passed 10 million views.

What's next

The Defense Ministry says it will keep monitoring the links. The fix lands in the middle of Trump's push to end the war: Russia agreed this week to resume three-way talks with Washington and Kyiv next month, the AP reported, with Moscow saying they're set for Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, according to Anadolu Agency. On Friday, first lady Melania Trump brokered a local ceasefire around the Russian-held town of Oleshky.