Front Line Satellite Links Restored

For more than a week, Ukrainian commanders were flying blind in places where they needed to see most. Drones dropped out of contact, missions were scrubbed, and military logistics slowed to a crawl. The problem lay in the satellite connections powering those fast-moving systems, which had been slowed down on orders that nobody has officially identified. As of Saturday, Ukraine says those restrictions are gone and the systems are running at full speed again.

Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara told reporters that the ministry's monitoring equipment inside Ukraine is registering stable connections for objects traveling faster than 250 mph. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that checks show both Starlink and Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade service, are operating at the speeds Ukraine requires. The restoration, he said, began overnight, and by the following morning speeds were already sufficient to use the connections. He added that restoring the service is critical for moving supplies to the front and for defending against the Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia fires at Ukraine regularly.

The week of reduced speeds drew immediate alarm from Ukrainian military and government officials. Commanders reported lost drones and disrupted missions during that period. Ukraine has relied on the satellite internet built by Elon Musk's company for years to counter Russian attacks.

The restoration comes amid a new push by U.S. envoys to end the war. Russia agreed on Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localized ceasefire around Oleshky, a war-ravaged, Russian-occupied town in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, brokered by first lady Melania Trump. The episode added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington, a relationship already strained by President Donald Trump's reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal.

Khmara credited direct dialogue and Zelenskyy's diplomacy with Washington for the outcome. He said the restoration matters most for the front, for the military, and for drone work, logistics, and communications. Zelenskolly thanked Americans and all our partners, who took all this seriously and are really helping us.

Questions remain about who ordered the interruptions to the satellite internet system. Trump has maintained that he did not make the call, while also saying Musk should not be blamed for it.