On Wednesday, a senior U.S. official confirmed that the White House had issued a directive to the Pentagon to throttle the bandwidth of the SpaceX Starshield service used by Ukrainian forces, capping the speed at 100 miles per hour.
The Starshield system, a military‑grade version of Starlink, has been a lifeline for battlefield communications and drone operations in eastern Ukraine. Limiting its speed has forced Ukrainian drones to operate with reduced precision, hampering strike missions against Russian forces and slowing interceptor drones tasked with neutralizing incoming Shahed rockets.
Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson Yana Kovaleva said the speed cap had already been felt on the ground, with drones only maintaining stable guidance while moving below 160 km/h. A White House spokesperson declined to confirm or deny who issued the order, and a senior U.S. official reiterated that no such request had come from the president.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X that any constraints on Starshield are set by the U.S. military or the president, underscoring the chain of command. Meanwhile, Kyiv has called Washington for an explanation, threatening to reassess its intelligence sharing and drone reliance if the restriction is not lifted. The next step will be a formal request for clarification from Ukrainian officials to the Pentagon, which is expected to respond by early next week.