A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is demanding an urgent investigation into Ukraine Starlink restrictions, after reports that SpaceX’s satellite internet service slowed critical military operations earlier this week.
Ukrainian officials said Tuesday night that Starlink unexpectedly limited how fast drones could travel while staying connected, constraining Kyiv’s ability to guide strikes on Russian targets and defend its airspace.
In a letter to the Department of Defense inspector general, the senators voiced “grave concern” about speed curbs reported between 12 and 14 October and asked for a rapid review of what happened and why.
Ukraine Starlink restrictions under scrutiny
Asked if Washington had any role in the slowdown, a U.S. official said no such request “was ever made by the president [Donald Trump],” according to comments provided to the BBC.
The letter, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urges the inspector general to determine whether the restrictions stemmed from the Pentagon or its contractors.
The senators said the reported limits “degraded Ukraine’s ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.”
Starlink, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, capped connectivity Tuesday night to platforms moving faster than 100 mph, or 160 km/h, which meant weapons exceeding that speed lost access to the network.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Brussels that service in his country was still being restored. “Has the speed been fully restored to what it was before? No. Is the speed being restored now? Yes,” he said.
Concerns about safety and intelligence-sharing
The senators also cited reports of broader disruptions and “glitches” affecting intelligence-sharing and threat-warning systems used by personnel in Ukraine. They said they were “particularly alarmed” by incidents in which U.S. diplomatic, military, and security personnel could not reach designated bunkers during Russian air raids.
“Given the potentially deadly consequences, these incidents require immediate investigation,” the letter states.
Signatories include Republican Senators Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John Cornyn, along with Democratic Senators Richard Durbin, Jack Reed, Richard Blumenthal, and Christopher Coons.
