--- title: "Ukraine Says Starshield Disruptions Are Back As U.S. Negotiators Meet With Putin" date: "2026-11-12" modified: "2026-11-12" authors: - name: "Howard Altman" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/howard-altman.md" url: "https://www.twz.com/news-features/ukraine-says-starshield-disruptions-are-back-as-u-s-negotiators-meet-with-putin" categories: - "Around The Globe" - "Europe" - "News & Features" - "Orbital Systems" - "Russia" - "Space" - "Ukraine" --- # Ukraine Says Starshield Disruptions Are Back As U.S. Negotiators Meet With Putin ![Ukrainian officials are complaining that the SpaceX Starshield satellite communications systems has been degraded again.]() *(Ukrainian MoD)* For the [second time in a month](), Ukrainian officials and military personnel are [complaining ]()that weapons using SpaceX's vital [Starshield satellite communications system]() have had limits placed on the speeds at which they can operate. The officials say the latest Starshield issues are impairing Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian missile barrages and strike targets far behind the lines in Ukrainian territory that Russia holds. Ukrainians made similar claims in October, [and the service was eventually restored](). The complaints, from President Volodymyr Zelensky, one of his main advisors, and frontline troops, are being made as U.S. negotiators met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in another White House-brokered effort to end the war. Some Ukrainians [are reportedly even claiming]() the Starshield system is being impacted to pressure Ukraine to bend to Russian demands to give up territory. SpaceX denied the allegations. “This is false,” a SpaceX official told us. “There has been no change.” ![A Ukrainian soldier of the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade uses the Starlink system during military exercises in the Chernihiv region, Ukraine, June 2023 (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)]() *A Ukrainian soldier of the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade uses the Starlink system. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto* While *TWZ* cannot independently verify the Ukrainian claims about Starshield, the issue again highlights the challenges Kyiv faces fighting a war while relying on donated equipment and services. The country is working on alternatives, including [developing its own satellite communications system](). However, even Ukrainian officials acknowledge that it [won't come close to replacing]() the SpaceX system. ### What Is Starshield? Starshield is the SpaceX satellite communications system designed specifically for government and military clients, [including the Pentagon](). “Starshield leverages SpaceX's Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts,” [according to the company](). “While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on three areas: Earth observation, communications and hosted payloads.” In addition, “Starshield uses additional high-assurance cryptographic capability to host classified payloads and process data securely,” the company adds. This allows military users, like Ukraine, to communicate securely, though [Russia is working on methods of jamming]() the signals. ![]() *SpaceX satellite. (SpaceX)* Starshield “is the version where you have much higher speeds, you have better connectivity and it’s not available for civilians; it’s available only for the military,” Olena Tregub, founder and secretary-general of Ukraine’s Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, [told *The Associated Press*.]() Tregub said reliable, high-speed connectivity was essential for Ukrainian military operations involving drones and units moving rapidly on the ground and in the air. Operators need clear, real-time video feeds to identify what is happening and make decisions, she added. Ukraine has a large number of aerial, sea and land drones equipped with the SpaceX terminals for communications. As we have noted in the past, a limit on how fast Starshield terminals on vehicles can travel before the feed is cut off in certain areas impacts a slew of weapons and campaigns, especially [strikes on Russian logistics behind enemy lines]() and [in the Sea of Asov](), as well as the control of [defensive interceptor drones]() critical for taking down Russian long-range one-way attack drones, like the notorious Shahed-136. ### What Ukraine Is Claiming “Unfortunately, our units have been recording significant disruptions to Starshield’s operations over the territory of Ukraine for several days now – along the entire front line and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Zelensky stated Thursday on X. “Specifically, systematic speed restrictions are being imposed on Starshield, limiting it to 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour).” “The Ukrainian military have already investigated the circumstances, and these are not random errors but systematic speed restrictions,” the Ukrainian leader added. “For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones. Unfortunately, there have already been strikes that got through because our interception systems cannot reach sufficient speeds and are unable to intercept in time. Unfortunately, this is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine. We are trying to establish all the circumstances with the American side.” https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2120884201264144659?a=RjdOH-appIhEo_QVLGM&s=20 Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, the presidential advisor on defense technology, noted glumly that Starshield limits are affecting aircraft used to shoot down Russian Shahed drones. “The operational speed of the Starshield system has once again been restricted while in motion,” [he stated on Telegram](). “We didn't enjoy that for long. Consequently, problems have re-emerged with communication with helicopters tracking Shahed drones, and with interceptor aircraft that shoot down these drones.” Frontline troops say the Starshield issue is affecting their ability to use so-called mid-range strike drones to [hit Russian logistics targets deep behind the lines]() in Ukrainian territory that Moscow’s forces currently hold. “I spoke to a unit on Monday who told me the same thing about the 160 km/h limit for Star Shield, in particular, in occupied areas,” Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Marine veteran, stated on X. “This is affecting their middle strike drones, making them easier to intercept.” https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/2120808689573724456?a=sLkMeH6nhHfqIHCbfd4&s=20 “Some of their middle strike drones operate at higher speeds so they have to fly slower than necessary leaving them vulnerable to interceptors,” Lee told us when we asked for more details. “More of the middle strike drones are being intercepted.” Lee added that so far, it is difficult to determine how battlefield operations are being affected. “It just started,” he pointed out. [As we have previously reported,]() the [First Corps Azov]() of the National Guard of Ukraine [installed Starlink systems]() on its mid-range strike drones, helping to dramatically boost the range to as far as 150 miles. ***The following video shows some of those strikes***. https://twitter.com/azov_media/status/2044673770015592755?a=K-Eadypdbq070-jAwkw&s=20 After the previous Starshield issue in October, SpaceX founder [Elon Musk said the decision]() to place a limit on the system was up to the U.S. military and the Trump administration to decide. However, the [*Wall Street Journal* reported]() last month that Musk gave the order to slow down Starshield, with the paper’s sources in disagreement over whether this was made in concert with President Donald Trump. The paper also reported that the president had asked Musk to restore the service, with Trump later telling reporters the system was “back.” Last month, *TWZ* editor-in-chief Tyler Rogoway questioned how Musk would be able to order any changes to the way Starshield operates, given contracts SpaceX has with the Pentagon. "I have real reservations about this claim," he stated on X. "Starshield is bound by mountains of terms of service between the Pentagon on SpaceX. The idea that Musk just pulled and Office Space in Starlink HQ and told the watch worker to put up a speed gate on terminals around Ukraine sounds like a massive problem for the Pentagon as well as Ukraine. So yeah, I have real questions here." "Basically, this would mean DoW has no control over its proprietary critical communications networks that it is paying mountains of money for," he added. "Literally a gigantic strategic issue that would undermine future investment in Starshield." https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/2112660399334264973?a=SqbVmneP8-O84wdaFtU&s=20 The Russians also faced limits on how they could use the SpaceX system. [We reported in February]() that Russia was [frantically trying]() to plug massive communications gaps after Musk, working with Ukraine's Defense Ministry, restricted the Starlink satellite communications system in and around Ukraine [to only registered users](). Russians [had been installing unregistered Starlink terminals]() on drones to provide beyond-line-of-sight connectivity and resistance to jamming. As we noted at the top of this piece, some Ukrainians say the claimed current Starshield issues are tied to the ongoing peace talks. “Senior Ukrainian officials told the *FT* they believed the speed restrictions were imposed in an effort to pressure Kyiv during the latest peace talks with Russia, which just concluded in Abu Dhabi,” [the *Financial Times* reported on Thursday](). Among the major roadblocks to a deal is that [Russia is seeking permanent control]() over Crimea, as well as four other regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, including large chunks of territory still held by Ukraine. Zelensky so far has been unwilling to agree to those demands. ### What’s The Latest On Negotiations? The two-day trilateral negotiations between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi [concluded on Wednesday](), with just an agreement on a large-scale prisoner exchange, but no big breakthroughs on ending Moscow’s full-on invasion. On Thursday, U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Putin in Moscow, [according to Russian media](). The U.S. is seeking to add the Europeans to the negotiating process. "We see some progress on the European side, we see that they express a desire to participate in the negotiations, they express the desire to end this conflict. We hope that if we manage to involve them in this multilateral format, we will be able to successfully end this conflict," Kushner told Putin, [according to the official Russian *TASS* news outlet.]() ![TOPSHOT - In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with US envoys - President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and businessman Steve Witkoff, at the Kremlin in Moscow on November 12, 2026. US envoys arrived at the Kremlin on November 12, 2026 to meet with President Vladimir Putin after talks in Abu Dhabi on the war in Ukraine, with both Washington and Kyiv suggesting there was a window of opportunity for progress on ending Europe's worst conflict since World War II. (Photo by Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)]() *Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff faces the camera. The three met in Moscow on Thursday. (Photo by Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / POOL / AFP) VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV* Putin, for his part, “reaffirmed Russia’s readiness for dialogue with European nations,” [according to the pro-Kremlin *Izvestia* news outlet](). The Russian leader also “noted that the humanitarian mission in Oleshky had been a positive experience for Moscow; he proposed organizing a similar mission in Konstantinovka—with invitations extended to foreign media.” [As we reported yesterday](), Ukraine has expressed regrets over that temporary ceasefire because it allowed Russian forces to move back into positions they had previously abandoned under withering drone strikes. Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky said he had low expectations. “The Americans have flown to meet Putin with concrete proposals. I would very much like them to arrive in Dublin with concrete answers. I don't really believe they will, but there is hope," [he told reporters.]() *Contact the author: howard@twz.com* ## Author Howard is a Senior Staff Writer for *TWZ*. He writes frequently about conflict, focusing heavily on the Middle East and Ukraine, and interviews with military and intelligence officials and industry leaders from around the globe. He lives near Tampa, Florida, home of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [LinkedIn]() ## More - [Destination Of Russian T-90 Tank Left At Truck Stop Comes Into Focus]() - [Four Slovakian MiG-29s Flown Directly To Ukraine To Join Its Air Force]() - [Signs Point To Russia Sending Ancient T-54 Series Of Tanks To Ukraine]() - [Russia Also Has A Fleet Of Spy Balloons]() - [Iraq Wants To Ditch Russian Mi-17s For U.S. Helicopters Over Ukraine War-Induced Parts Shortage]() - [Russian Submarines Now Appear To Be Getting Anti-Drone “Cope Cages”]() - [Russian Ship Under Drone Boat Attack Seen In Dramatic Onboard Video]() - [Hungary Inks Deal For Gripen Fighters Ahead Of Sweden NATO Membership Vote]()