Ukraine says Starlink service restored as attacks continue

Ukraine said Saturday that restrictions on its Starlink and Starshield satellite connections had been lifted after more than a week of disruption that hampered military operations, including drone missions against Russian forces. The restoration comes as the United States seeks to revive peace talks, even as Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said service began recovering overnight. “The most important thing today is that Starlink and Starshield operations have been restored to the speeds we had before the restrictions,” he wrote on X. “The speeds are now where they need to be.”

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said its monitoring systems confirmed the restoration. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said the connections were stable on equipment travelling faster than 400 kilometres per hour, or 250 miles per hour. The restrictions had limited use to about 100 mph, hindering Ukraine’s ability to intercept drones and disrupting missions, NPR reported.

Ukraine relies on the SpaceX-operated services for frontline communications, logistics and drone operations. Zelenskyy has said the satellite connections also help defend against Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia. Khmara credited talks with Washington and Zelenskyy’s diplomacy for the restoration, saying it was important for service members and operations at the front. Zelenskyy thanked Americans, including members of Congress, the State Department and President Donald Trump.

Who ordered the restrictions remains disputed. Zelenskyy told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Ukrainian officials believed the U.S. government was behind them and that SpaceX acted in response to a “message from [the] American government.” In an October 14 post on X, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said Starshield was owned and controlled by the U.S. government. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote.

The Trump administration has denied interfering with Ukraine’s Starshield access. Asked Friday who ordered the restrictions, Trump said, “I wouldn’t tell you if I did know.” He defended Musk, saying, “Elon will never do anything wrong.”

Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned talks Friday, and Zelenskyy announced agreement on technical-level meetings, Al Jazeera reported.

The White House said first lady Melania Trump brokered a local ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky, in southern Ukraine, to allow humanitarian aid and civilian evacuations amid a growing food crisis. Ukrainian and Russian statements put the ceasefire’s start on October 27 and the humanitarian operation on October 29, according to Al Jazeera.

Fighting continued elsewhere. A Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed one man and wounded two others Saturday, the regional governor said. Local officials also reported deaths and injuries from attacks on Chernihiv, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. NPR reported that a Russian drone struck a residential building in Kyiv’s Obolon district Saturday, causing a fire.

Ukraine reported strikes on Russian facilities, including a petrochemical plant in Togliatti. The city’s mayor confirmed industrial damage but reported no casualties, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine also said it struck an electronics plant in Oryol that it says makes missile components. The regional governor reported three deaths in an attack on an unidentified facility.