Ukraine's satellite lifeline: How Starlink and Starshield disruptions hurt its war effort

Ukraine experienced a significant disruption to its Starlink and Starshield satellite networks last week, causing Ukrainian drones to stop midflight and fall from the sky, which hampered its defense against Russian attacks. The throttling, which imposed speed limits on military-grade Starshield dishes, was reported by CBS News to have been ordered by Elon Musk after he spoke with administration officials, though Musk denies involvement and says the U.S. government controls the network. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the service remained limited as of Wednesday, with the disruption estimated to have cost Ukraine tens of millions of dollars in drone losses. Starshield is a military-grade satellite network operated by SpaceX, licensed to the U.S. government and used by Ukraine, while Starlink is its commercial counterpart. The disruption coincided with failures in U.S. intelligence warnings about Russian strikes, and comes amid rising pressure from President Trump for Ukraine to end the war.