White House order restricts Ukraine’s military Starlink use, complicating strikes on Russian forces and slowing Shahed-interceptor drones

Ukrainian drone and strike units lost full use of their military-grade Starlink terminals this week after an order from inside the White House, Reuters reported, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official. Ukrainian officials said the terminals now function only while moving at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, complicating strike missions against Russian forces and slowing interceptor drones used to shoot down incoming Shahed drones.

Officials said Defense Department leaders received a message that SpaceX’s Starshield service for Ukraine’s military needed to be slowed down. After the restriction took effect, Ukrainian officials contacted senior figures at the White House, State Department and Pentagon and were reportedly told the directive was a White House decision. A senior U.S. official denied that the president made the request. Elon Musk wrote on X that, because the U.S. government controls Starshield systems, usage limits are decided by the U.S. military or the president.

The restriction coincided with President Donald Trump pressing Kyiv to halt attacks on Russian refineries. In the following days, Trump called for elections in Ukraine and for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be ousted. In a subsequent interview with Newsmax, Trump said Zelenskyy was not a good person to deal with and did not genuinely want to reach a settlement.