Ukraine says SpaceX imposed overnight Starlink speed caps that disrupted missions, United24 Media reports

Ukraine’s defence technology adviser Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov told United24 Media that SpaceX imposed new overnight speed limits on Starlink terminals while they are in motion, and that the change disrupted several Ukrainian military missions.

Beskrestnov said the restriction affects StarShield, SpaceX’s military-focused communications package, and places the cap for moving terminals at 100 miles per hour.

According to sources in Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense cited by United24 Media, overnight tests identified that StarShield terminals experienced restrictions when moving at speeds above roughly 160 km/h, though Beskrestnov said the exact threshold is still being verified.

Beskrestnov said Ukraine’s Defence Forces received no prior warning about the restriction and that the absence of notice “led to the disruption of a number of missions,” per United24 Media.

He identified the affected product as StarShield’s military package rather than the consumer Starlink service, and emphasised the speed limit in miles per hour when discussing the policy announced by SpaceX. United24 Media’s account places Beskrestnov as the primary on-the-record source for the Ukrainian side.

The account in United24 Media gives two measures for when terminals experienced limits: Beskrestnov’s statement that the cap is 100 miles per hour and Ministry of Defense sources saying testing found issues above roughly 160 km/h. United24 Media reports that verification of the precise threshold was still underway.

The outlet attributes the disruption of missions to the combination of the newly imposed cap and the lack of advance notice to military users. United24 Media dated Beskrestnov’s statements to October 14.

The article names StarShield explicitly as SpaceX’s military-focused satellite communications service and frames the change as a technical restriction on terminals operating while in motion. No casualty figures, combat outcomes, or independent technical tests are provided in the United24 Media text.

Headlines from other outlets mirror United24 Media’s core claim that SpaceX limited Starlink operations and that Ukraine said military missions were disrupted, but the United24 Media article is the source of the detailed on-the-record comments by Beskrestnov and the Ministry of Defense testing note.

The article reports that Ukrainian authorities were still verifying the exact speed threshold when it filed its account. The practical effect reported is that moving terminals reached a restricted operational regime during overnight testing, and Ukraine’s Defence Forces say they were not warned beforehand.