Ukraine's military loses Starlink access as pressure from Washington grows

Ukraine's military has suddenly had its access to Starlink satellite internet restricted, as the Trump administration increases pressure on Kyiv to stop long-range strikes on Russia's oil industry.

Terminals moving at more than 100mph, using a military version of the service, lost connectivity on Tuesday evening, according to Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser on military technology to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said the outage caused several combat missions to fail.

Drone defences hit

The fast-moving terminals are used by interceptors that target Russia's jet-powered Shahed drones, now being used in large numbers to bomb Ukraine. "With their actions our partners are depriving us of one of the few chances we have to defend ourselves," Beskrestnov said. Interception rates had already fallen from more than 90% to about 60% since Russia upgraded its drones to jet engines in the summer.

There were no reports that fixed Starlink terminals had been cut, so most battlefield communications should be unaffected.

"Not under SpaceX control"

Elon Musk said Starlink is not licensed to customers using weapons, and that the Ukrainian military used a separate network called Starshield, operated by the US government. "This is not under SpaceX control," he wrote. Musk has backed Trump's calls for Zelenskyy to be replaced.

No warning of missile strikes

The outage came as Russia fired ballistic missiles at Ukraine without advance warning from the US for a second night. For years the US has given Ukraine intelligence when strikes were coming. Trump has denied cutting intelligence sharing, and Zelenskyy said it was continuing, although military advisers had been warned it could be limited.

Russia launched 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones at Kyiv and Kharkiv late on Tuesday, hitting five large power plants and key substations. At least 600,000 people were left without power, Zelenskyy said. "Russia has never before shown such ostentatious disrespect toward the United States," he said.

A disputed ceasefire

Trump announced an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine last week, but neither side has confirmed it. The Kremlin said it could not be accused of breaking a truce that had not been "specified in detail". Ukraine has paused strikes on Russian refineries to show it is ready for talks.

Zelenskyy in London

Zelenskyy arrived in London on Wednesday to meet the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who said the UK's support "will not change", and was also received by the King. He has sent proposals to Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, saying Ukraine is ready to work towards a ceasefire, but "Russia must also be part of this agreement".

Why it matters

Satellite internet has become essential to modern warfare, from controlling drones to coordinating troops. The episode shows how much Ukraine's defence depends on systems controlled by others, and has fuelled calls in Europe to build independent alternatives.