Ukraine Drone Speeds Climb Back Past 400km/h

Ukrainian military drones can once again push past 400km/h, restoring a capability that had been lost for several days when access to the satellite internet network was restricted.

Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced on Saturday that Starlink connections were running normally again, saying speeds above 400km/h were available on the network. Under the limits imposed last week, drones reportedly dropped their link at 161km/h, the equivalent of 100mph. "This result is above all important for our front, for our soldiers, for the operation of drones, for logistics and for communications," Khmara said.

Ukraine flies drones and runs field operations through Starlink and its military counterpart Starshield, drawing on a constellation of 10,000 low Earth orbit satellites to reach troops in remote parts of the battlefield. The service does not function inside Russia, so long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries lose their connection. Musk has said Starshield sits under US military control and has suggested the Pentagon may have caused the slowdown.

The restrictions arrived during a dispute between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. Ukrainian officials accused Trump of directing Elon Musk to limit the network; Trump denied issuing such an instruction, then said Musk had "put it back". Zelensky has also said Washington threatened to stop sharing intelligence if the refinery strikes did not halt, an accusation Trump denied.

The attacks have lifted global fuel costs, though price rises this year trace mainly to the war in Iran. Trump has waived some sanctions on Russia and agreed to buy Russian diesel for the American market ahead of next month's midterm elections, a step Ukraine and its European partners have criticised. Kyiv maintains the strikes cut the revenue funding Moscow's war.

Fighting continued through Saturday. Russia's defence ministry reported on Telegram that air defences brought down 616 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, with impacts recorded across several regions including annexed Crimea. The territory's Moscow-backed governor, Sergey Aksyonov, ordered limits on power and water after outages followed the strikes.

Ukrainian authorities said their forces hit a missile component manufacturer, a chemical plant and an aircraft at a military airfield inside Russia during the previous 24 hours. They counted 88 Russian air strikes on Friday, involving 309 glide bombs and 10,270 kamikaze drones.

Musk said the Pentagon could be responsible for the slowdown, and Trump denied ordering any curbs on the service.