Khoma Confirms Starlink Links Stable for Drones at 250 mph
Ukraine says satellite restrictions were lifted after a week of disruption that impeded military drone operations against Russian forces.
By Megan Greco ·
Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced on Saturday that satellite connections for military equipment are stable again. He stated that Starlink and Starshield links are functioning correctly on vehicles moving faster than 400 kilometers per hour, which equals 250 miles per hour. This confirmation ends a period of more than seven days where restricted access hampered drone missions targeting Russian troops.
The disruption began in mid-October. During this week, Ukraine relied heavily on satellite services provided by Elon Musk's SpaceX for communications and drone guidance. The exact origin of the restrictions remains unclear. US President Donald Trump denied responsibility for the cutoff while defending Musk. The incident added strain to relations between Kyiv and Washington, which were already tense over Trump's agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports. Earlier this month, Trump called for a new Ukrainian president and suggested on Monday that someone other than President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should negotiate for Kyiv. These comments followed a public confrontation between the two leaders at the White House in February 2025.
Khmara credited talks with Washington and the diplomacy of Zelenskyy for resolving the issue. The restoration of service arrives as the United States seeks to revive peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Negotiators from the three nations are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. This gathering will occur more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned talks on Friday, and Zelenskyy announced that technical-level meetings have been agreed upon.
Trump also claimed that his wife, Melania Trump, secured a local ceasefire in Oleshky, located in the Kherson region. Russian forces have occupied this area since 2022. Ukrainian and Russian statements later set the start of the ceasefire for October 27, with a humanitarian operation planned for October 29. Fighting continued in other areas despite the restored links. A Russian missile strike on Lozova in the Kharkiv region killed one man and wounded two others on Saturday, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. In Chernihiv, a Russian attack on Friday killed a man and wounded at least 25 people, local authorities reported.
Officials in Donetsk said shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children. Vadym Lyakh, the mayor of Sloviansk, stated that attacks on Friday killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four people there. Ukraine reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and into Saturday. These included the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti, a major producer of synthetic rubber. Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage but reported no casualties. Ukraine said it also hit the Proton electronics plant in Oryol, which it says manufactures missile components. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths in an attack on an unidentified facility. Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts following overnight Ukrainian attacks. Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences intercepted a SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles, and 1,297 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over 24 hours, TASS reported. These figures could not be independently verified.
Source: Al Jazeera
