US Senators Demand Probe into Ukraine’s Limitations on Starlink
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators have signed a letter calling for a prompt inquiry into disruptions to SpaceX’s Starlink internet network in Ukraine.
Starlink is an essential tool for Kyiv to guide drones to targets in Russia and defend its skies, but on Tuesday evening Ukraine said it had unexpectedly reduced the speed at which drones could fly while staying connected to the internet.
In the letter, written to the US defence department inspector general, the senators express “grave concern” about allegations of speed limits between 12 and 14 October. In a news conference in Brussels on Friday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Starlink services were still being restored in his country.
Asked if the US may have played a part in the pause, a US official told the BBC: “No such request was ever made by the president [Donald Trump].
The letter, led by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asks the inspector general to investigate whether the US defence department or its contractors were behind the limitations.
“Restrictions reportedly limited Ukraine’s capabilities in carrying out defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.”
On Tuesday nite, Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, imposed speed caps of 100mph (160km/h), meaning any weapons that were travelling at greater speeds than this lost their connectivity to the network.
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