White House officials, who asked to remain unnamed, told two U.S. defense aides that the Pentagon had received a directive to throttle the speed of Ukraine’s Starshield feed. The message—issued on Monday—came from an unnamed senior staffer in the Oval Office. It was not a blanket ban, but a reduction in bandwidth that would slow the real‑time data streams used by Ukrainian forces.
Starshield, the military‑grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink, is the Pentagon’s biggest customer, and its high‑speed links have become a backbone for Ukraine’s battlefield communications and drone guidance. When the service was cut, Ukrainian drone pilots reported that their aircraft lost navigation precision, forcing them to abort missions over contested airspace. “The loss of real‑time data has made the drones behave like blind birds,” said a senior Ukrainian air‑force officer.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at a Brussels press conference, said the slowdown was still in effect and that full speed had not yet been restored. He warned that the gaps could jeopardise the defence of critical infrastructure. “We are fighting with half‑speed,” Zelensky said, adding that the U.S. must re‑enable the service to keep the war in check.
The Pentagon has not yet replied publicly to the order, and the House Armed Services Committee is slated to hear testimony on the matter next month. Military analysts predict that the U.S. may face pressure to restore full bandwidth before the next round of drone‑based strikes. If the service remains throttled, Ukraine could lose a decisive edge in the skies.