Ukraine seeks drone communication alternatives after Starlink restrictions

On October 14, Ukrainian forces canceled combat missions after Starlink service restrictions disrupted drone communications, with connections failing at speeds above 160 km/h. This caused a sharp drop in strikes on Russian vehicles and aircraft. The restrictions affected the military Starshield package, with outages reported at speeds from 70 to 160 km/h across units, without prior warning. Ukrainian strikes on Russian vehicles fell to 37 from 80-94 daily, and interceptor drone hits dropped from 304 to 142. Service partially recovered by October 15, but Ukraine still faces limits. The incident highlights risks of relying on a single external satellite channel, prompting calls to diversify communications with alternatives like the Ukrainian Nakande system.