Ukraine says Starshield still hampers drone operations despite Trump claim
Ukrainian officials and soldiers say Starshield is still not at full capacity, limiting drone operations, despite Donald Trump's claim that Elon Musk restored the network.
How it was covered
- BBC News carried 77% of the airtime.
- Channel 5, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
What Ukraine says
Ukrainian officials and serving soldiers say the Starshield military satellite network is still not at full capacity. They say the problem is continuing to hamper drone operations and, according to one report, helicopter missions that rely on satellite connectivity.
What the technology does
Starshield is the military version of Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite service. Starlink is the commercial network. Both use the same satellite constellation, according to Thomas Whittington, an associate fellow at the defence think tank RUSI.
Sources in Ukraine's armed forces say connectivity for drones has been capped at around 100mph. Anything moving faster loses connection, goes off-grid, crashes or becomes uncontrollable. Ukraine has stopped launching some drones to avoid losing them. A serving soldier, speaking anonymously, said even using Starlink from a car moving at about 50mph had been difficult.
The blame game
The restriction has been in place for more than a week. Donald Trump had said the technology was again up and running at full speed. He denied ordering Musk to restrict connectivity to Starshield and said it had been put back. Musk denied being behind the slowdown. The White House repeatedly said Starlink is a commercial company and that Musk was responsible. Musk said the military Starshield component is under the command of the US government. The White House denied being responsible for the restriction. Trump did not confirm he had made a call, but suggested someone had reached out to Musk and that the system had now been restored.
There is still no clear answer about who imposed the speed restriction. Ukrainians believe it was deliberate, applied either by the White House or by Musk, amid a political row between President Zelensky and Trump. The episode has fed Ukrainian doubts about the US as a reliable ally and an honest broker in any peace talks.
The technical picture
Whittington said Starshield requires US Department of Defense participation and control. The Pentagon owns the network and provides encryption keys. Without those keys, users cannot send or receive traffic. He said the signals had been conflicting all week. He suggested the restrictions may have been lifted but technical arrangements could take time to reach terminals and satellites, or they may not have been lifted, or the Ukrainians may not be telling the truth. He said it was impossible to tell what was happening, but the service was still being restricted in some shape or form.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 3 channels | |||
| President Trump said Elon Musk had restored full Starlink/Starshield service in Ukraine, while Ukrainian officials reported continuing access problems. | Reported by Channel 4 | ||
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | |||
| Ukraine reported that an unexpected reduction in Starlink service disrupted its combat drone missions. | Not reported by Channel 4 | ||
| Only on one channel | |||
| The US Department of Defense owns Starshield and provides its encryption keys. | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | |
| Ukrainians believed the Starshield restriction was deliberate and imposed either by the White House or Elon Musk. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by Channel 4 | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The channel focused on the practical impact on Ukrainian forces and gave weight to sources in the armed forces who said the system was still not working. It also highlighted an anonymous soldier's account and the political blame game between Kyiv, Washington and Musk. The segment linked the episode to wider doubts about the US as a reliable ally.
- “sources in Ukraine's armed forces say it is still not back to full capacity”
- “trying to use Starlink on the move in a car above around 50mph was difficult”
- “Ukrainians believe this was a deliberate restriction”
The channel framed the story around the unresolved mystery of who capped the service and how the technology works. It gave more detail on the 100mph cap, the conflicting statements from Trump, Musk and the White House, and the role of the US Department of Defense. Its tone was analytical and cautious, with a RUSI specialist saying the cause and current status remain unclear.
- “Ukraine says the speeds at which its drones can stay connected with the network have been capped at around a hundred miles an hour”
- “Mr Musk denies being behind the slowdown”
- “the service is still being restricted in some shape or form”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 15:12 BST
Thomas Whittington, associate fellow at the defense think-tank RUSI specializing in Electronic warfare
Verified Live · Fri 23 Oct
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.