Ukraine officials say 70 kph speed cap already blocked the fast drones Musk blames

A 70 to 90 kilometers per hour speed limit on Starlink terminals in Ukraine contradicts Elon Musk’s claim that the network enabled lethal high-speed drone strikes. Musk posted on social media on Saturday that Ukraine violated the commercial terms of service by using the civilian system for offensive attacks. He stated that the loophole allowing this usage was closed the previous week.

Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, rejected the accusation in a Telegram post on Sunday. Beskrestnov noted that all Starlink terminals operating over Ukrainian territory, including areas occupied by Russia, were already subject to the 70 to 90 kph movement speed limit. He described the scenario of using the capped service for the specific fast drones Musk implied as physically impossible.

The dispute follows SpaceX’s imposition of new restrictions preventing Ukraine from using the satellite technology on drones flying above certain speeds. One current and one former Ukrainian official stated that these prior limits already prevented the military from using Starlink in the manner Musk described. These officials also accused Musk of throttling Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the military variant of the system provided through a deal with the U.S. government.

Musk drew a sharp line between the two systems in his Saturday post. He explained that Starlink is a civilian commercial service, while Starshield is a different system controlled by the U.S. government. He argued that using Starlink to kill people was never allowed and should not be, citing the violation of specific commercial terms.

President Zelenskyy stated over the weekend that the new satellite restrictions have been lifted. This development may end a controversy that began almost two weeks ago. Beskrestnov added that Starlink does not function over the territory of Russia, a detail that further limits the operational scope of the network in the region.