Ukraine awaits US confirmation on lifting Starshield restrictions

Lack of official confirmation from Washington

Ukraine's Chargé d'Affaires in Washington, Denys Senyk, stated that the Ukrainian embassy in the United States is still awaiting responses from the US Department of Defense and the company SpaceX. The diplomat emphasised that Kyiv has not received official confirmation on whether speed restrictions for the Starshield satellite system have been lifted and whether it has returned to its previous operating mode.

«На жаль, ми досі не отримали відповіді від Пентагону чи компанії SpaceX на наші запити – зокрема, підтвердження того, що обмеження швидкості знято, а система Starshield працює в колишньому режимі. З огляду на наявні в нас дані, ми не можемо підтвердити, що ці можливості було повністю відновлено» ("Unfortunately, we have still not received a response from the Pentagon or SpaceX to our requests – specifically, confirmation that speed restrictions have been lifted and the Starshield system is operating in its previous mode. Given the data we have, we cannot confirm that these capabilities have been fully restored"), Senyk noted.

Technical issues during drone flights

According to the diplomat, the Ukrainian side has recorded instances of loss of communication while drones were moving at speeds exceeding 160 km/h. These incidents indicate that the restrictions introduced by the US side may still be in effect, the Chargé d'Affaires believes.

Impact on the protection of critical infrastructure

Denys Senyk emphasised that recently Russia carried out one of the largest-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy system. More than 15 power generation and transmission facilities in various regions of the country were hit.

The diplomat stated that the combination of a shortage of anti-missile and air defence (AD) systems with the lack of guarantees regarding the full restoration of satellite communication complicates the protection of Ukraine's critical infrastructure from Russian air strikes.

In this regard, Senyk emphasised the need to increase pressure on Russia and ensure Ukraine has reliable communication systems and air defence assets, especially in the pre-winter period.