Ukraine Regains High-Speed Satellite Links Amid Ongoing Strikes

Ukraine's military communications capabilities have been restored to previous levels, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on October 24, ending a period of degraded service that had affected frontline operations.

In a message posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy described the return to normal speed on the Starshield satellite system as very important and significant for logistics along the front and for countering jet-powered Shahed drones. The system is a military-focused service built by SpaceX to complement its commercial Starlink network, both of which Ukraine relies on heavily. Zelenskyy said the speed is now where we need it to be. Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara said Ukrainian monitoring had confirmed restored connectivity for equipment moving faster than 400 kilometers per hour.

The prior restrictions had been in place for nearly two weeks. During that period, satellite links were dropping at speeds above roughly 161 kilometers per hour, sharply limiting the ability of drone interceptors and other equipment to maintain connections while moving at higher speeds. Khmara attributed the resolution to direct dialogue and the Ukrainian president's persistent stance.

Questions about who imposed the limits remain unanswered. An adviser to Zelenskyy on defense technology, Serhiy Beskrestnov, suggested the restrictions were linked to recent tensions between Kyiv and Washington, though no such connection has been confirmed. The Trump administration has denied that the president or anyone else in the US government asked for changes. Musk has stated that the government controls Starshield, with decisions on speed and use falling to the military and ultimately to President Donald Trump.

The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported earlier this week that Trump called Musk and urged him to lift the restrictions, after which communications became more reliable. Asked about it, Trump declined to comment but said, if there is a problem, I will get it straightened out. Lawmakers in Congress, both Democratic and some Republican, have asked who authorized the changes and want guarantees of reliable access for Ukraine.

The first reports of limited access emerged as Kyiv raised concerns about other US actions that Zelenskyy and some Western allies say play into Russian President Vladimir Putin's hands. Over the past two weeks, Trump announced a deal encouraging Russian diesel exports and waived sanctions that were about to take effect under a law he signed last month. He has also pressed Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries, blaming those attacks for higher diesel prices. After Putin ordered strikes on Ukraine to continue, Zelenskyy said Kyiv is done with pausing unilaterally.

Fighting persisted overnight. Ukraine's air defense forces said they shot down 100 of 130 drones launched by Russia, and attacks on 15 locations killed at least two people. Ukraine's General Staff reported strikes on two industrial facilities and a military airport inside Russia, including a plant in Oryol that makes components for cruise and ballistic missiles and a facility in Togliatti that produces rubber products used in solid rocket fuel.

In a separate development, most of Russian-occupied Crimea lost power in the early hours of the day, with cities including Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Kerch and Feodosia affected. NetBlocks recorded an almost complete loss of connectivity. Russian-installed authorities said mobile service reached only 40 percent of the area and public transport in Sevastopol was suspended. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of the occupation administration, blamed a disruption to main power lines outside Crimea that he said resulted from a drone attack. Ukraine has not commented, and the cause has not been independently confirmed. Ukrainian monitoring channels reported a fire at the Taman electrical substation in Russia's Krasnodar region, which supplies Crimea via the Kerch Strait.

As a fifth wartime winter approaches, peace talks have stalled and the Kremlin has offered no concessions.