Ukraine on Saturday revealed that Starlink and its military version Starshield were operating with normal speeds after more than a week of service disruption.
Hours later the reset, Elon Musk owner of the satellite system accused the Ukraine military of violating their teems of service by deploying it for offensive drone attacks.
Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,” Musk said in a post on X. To which Ukrainian officials did not immediately respond publicly to the allegation.
President Zelensky on Saturday confirmed that tbe system was operating with the speed needed. The restrictions capped speeds at 160 kph, and thereby hampered efforts to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some military operations.
“The main thing for today is that Starlink and Starshield have resumed operations at their pre-restriction speeds. The speeds are now at the level we need,” he said on the Telegram app.
Starlink is a frontline communication for Ukraine military as it helped Kyiv gain ground in several areas assisting in short range attack drones. The administration however does not rely on the satellite system for long range targets. The restrictions also disrupted its allied warnings about incoming Russian missile attacks.
Neither Musk nor the US government has publicly acknowledged responsibility for the restrictions, with both indicating that the other could have ordered them.
As per reports, the order to throttle Starlink was pressed by the White House.