SpaceX Lifts Speed Restrictions on Ukrainian Drone Links After Weeklong Halt

Ukrainian military units relying on satellite communications for high-speed drone missions regained full service on Saturday. The restoration ends a period of disruption that lasted more than a week. During that interval, operators faced limitations on the speed of equipment connected to the network, which hampered offensive and defensive operations against Russian forces.

Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced the return to normal operations. He stated that connections provided by Starlink and Starshield remained stable on hardware moving at speeds exceeding 400 kilometres per hour. That threshold is equivalent to 250 miles per hour. Khmara attributed the resolution to discussions with the United States and the diplomatic efforts of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The service interruption raised questions about command authority within the coalition. Elon Musk’s SpaceX company provides the core satellite infrastructure for Ukraine’s drone campaigns. Although the source of the initial restrictions remained unclear, U.S. President Donald Trump denied personal responsibility for the decision. He defended Musk while acknowledging the friction the episode caused in bilateral relations.

Strains between Kyiv and Washington had intensified recently. Trump previously called for a change in Ukrainian leadership and suggested that a figure other than Zelenskyy should conduct negotiations. Those remarks followed a public disagreement at the White House in February 2025. The latest development coincides with attempts by the United States to revive peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Negotiators from the three nations are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. This gathering would mark the first major technical meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the schedule on Friday, and Zelenskyy announced that agreement on technical-level meetings had been reached.

Combat operations continued despite the diplomatic progress. In the Kherson region, a local ceasefire in Oleshky was established, with a humanitarian operation planned for October 29. Meanwhile, attacks in the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions resulted in civilian casualties over the weekend. Ukrainian forces also struck industrial targets inside Russia, including a petrochemical plant in Togliatti and an electronics facility in Oryol.

Russia’s Defence Ministry reported that air defences intercepted 1,297 fixed-wing drones and several missile types over the previous 24 hours. The ministry said the intercepts included one SCALP cruise missile and four Neptune missiles. These figures, reported by TASS, have not been independently verified.