Ukrainian military personnel are again recording systematic restrictions on the operation of Starshield satellite communications, which complicate the interception of Russian jet drones. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, there have already been cases where Ukrainian interceptors did not manage to destroy enemy drones in time due to these restrictions.
Zelensky reported this on November 12 after reports from Minister of Defense Yevhen Khmara and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapaty.
According to the president, the problems have been ongoing for several days along the entire front line and over the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Ukrainian military personnel checked the equipment operation and established that it is not about random failures, but a systematic limitation of the movement speed at which Starshield supports communication.
Currently this limit is 161 km/h, or 100 miles per hour. For high-speed interceptor drones, this creates serious difficulties, since they need to develop greater speed to catch up with Russian jet drones.
Zelensky stated that the restrictions have already negatively affected air defense results. According to him, some Russian drones reached their targets because Ukrainian interceptors could not develop the necessary speed.
This is not the first case of such problems. In mid-October, Ukrainian military personnel already reported restrictions on Starlink and Starshield during drone movements. As previously wrote by "Kurs Ukrainy", on October 24, the Ministry of Defense confirmed the restoration of stable communication at speeds over 400 km/h.
At the end of October, nine American senators from both parties appealed to the Pentagon's Inspector General with a demand to investigate disruptions in satellite systems in Ukraine. However, Inspector General Platt Moring refused to open such an investigation, noting that the relevant issues should be considered by the US Air Force and Space Force.
The reasons for the current repeated restrictions remain unclear. The president reported that Ukraine is trying to establish all circumstances in contacts with the American side. Who exactly made the decision on the restrictions and whether it is related to the previous case is currently unknown.
Based on materials: Volodymyr Zelensky, CNN
