Ukraine Restores High-Speed Starlink Links After Week of Outages

Ukrainian military drones can again operate with stable satellite connections at speeds exceeding 400 kilometres per hour, Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced on Saturday. The restoration ends a disruption lasting more than a week that limited drone operations against Russian forces.

Khmara credited negotiations with Washington and the diplomacy of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the resolution. He stated that both Starlink and Starshield services are now stable on high-speed equipment. Ukraine relies heavily on satellite services provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for military communications and drone missions.

The cause of the initial restrictions remains unclear. US President Donald Trump has denied responsibility for the changes while defending Musk. The episode has added strain to relations between Kyiv and Washington. Tensions were already high following Trump’s agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports. Earlier this month, Trump called for a new Ukrainian president. On Monday, he suggested that someone other than Zelenskyy should negotiate for Kyiv. These exchanges follow a public confrontation between the two leaders at the White House in February 2025.

The return of service occurs as the United States attempts to revive peace negotiations. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the US are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. This meeting comes more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned talks on Friday. Zelenskyy announced that technical-level meetings had been agreed upon.

Trump also attributed a local ceasefire in Oleshky, in the Kherson region, to his wife, Melania Trump. Russian forces have occupied the area since 2022. Later statements from Ukrainian and Russian officials set the start of the ceasefire for October 27. A humanitarian operation is planned for October 29.

Fighting continued on the front lines during the satellite outage. A Russian missile strike on Lozova in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed a man and wounded two others on Saturday, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. In Chernihiv in the north, a Russian attack on Friday killed a man and wounded at least 25 people, local authorities said. Donetsk officials reported that shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children. Sloviansk Mayor Vadym Lyakh said Friday’s attacks there killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four people.

Ukraine reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and overnight into Saturday. Targets included the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti, a major producer of synthetic rubber. Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage but reported no casualties. Ukraine also said it hit the Proton electronics plant in Oryol, which it says manufactures missile components. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths in an attack on an unidentified facility. Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts following overnight Ukrainian attacks.

Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that its air defences intercepted one SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles, and 1,297 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over 24 hours, according to TASS. These figures could not be independently verified.