The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announces the restoration of access to “StarShield” services

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced, on Saturday, the restoration of full access to the “StarShield” system, after US President Donald Trump said that he had asked Elon Musk to lift the restrictions imposed on Kiev’s use of this version designated for military purposes of the “Starlink” Internet service owned by Musk. “The Ministry of Defense’s monitoring systems are detecting an improvement in Starlink/Starshield speeds,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevgeny Khmara said in a statement.

He added: "We are recording speeds exceeding 400 kilometers per hour, and communication is stable." He pointed out that the Ministry of Defense continues to follow developments in the situation.

It is not clear whether the restoration of Starshield speeds includes all parts of the country; On Saturday morning, a field source in the Ukrainian Donetsk region reported to the Ufaq News network that the speed in their area is still limited to 160 kilometers per hour. For more than a week, Ukraine has faced speed restrictions on the Starshield satellite terminals used by its military, hampering its ability to intercept fast-moving Russian drones.

Trump and his senior officials have denied issuing any directives to restrict Ukraine's use of the Starshield system - restrictions that limited speeds to 100 mph, according to Ukrainian officials - while Elon Musk, in a post on social media last week, said that the Trump administration was responsible for imposing this restriction.