Ukraine says US intentionally restricted Starshield to pressure Kyiv, FT reports
Ukraine believes that the American side may have deliberately restricted the operation of Starshield in order to put pressure on Kyiv.
Source: European Pravda, citing a Financial Times report
Details: President Zelenskyy noted that the Ukrainian military had reported "systematic speed restrictions" imposed for several days on Starshield – the Starlink service funded by the Pentagon and designed for military use – over the front line in Ukraine and in Russian-occupied territory.
Senior Ukrainian officials told the FT that they believed the speed restrictions were imposed in an effort to pressure Kyiv during the latest peace talks with Russia, which concluded in Abu Dhabi on the previous day.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Moscow on Thursday, meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, after which they were set to travel to Ireland to meet with Zelenskyy.
One senior Ukrainian official stated that it appeared Washington wanted to strengthen Russia's position in the talks.
Quote from the senior official: "We don't know the cause [because] they [the US – ed.] keep silent about this."
Background:
- On 12 November, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian units "have been recording significant disruptions to Starshield's operations", as reported by European Pravda.
- Earlier that day, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that she was concerned about the Starshield outages in Ukraine and promised to discuss the matter with the US.
- The first case of Starshield restrictions occurred in mid-October 2026. This made it more difficult to use interceptor drones against Russian UAVs, as well as to carry out reconnaissance and strike operations.
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