Ukraine Restores Starlink: Military Drones Back Online After Week-Long Outage

Ukraine’s military has regained full access to Starlink satellite services, ending a week-long outage that interfered with drone missions against Russian forces. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced the restoration on Saturday, stating that connections for both Starlink and Starshield are now stable.

Khmara specified that the satellite links remain reliable on equipment moving at speeds exceeding 400 kilometers per hour, or 250 miles per hour. He attributed the return of service to diplomatic talks with Washington and the efforts of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The ministry did not immediately clarify who initially ordered the restrictions, though US President Donald Trump has denied responsibility while supporting Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.

Ukraine relies heavily on SpaceX infrastructure for communications and drone guidance. The disruption added tension to relations between Kyiv and Washington, which were already strained by Trump’s recent agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports. This week, Trump suggested that a new leader should negotiate for Ukraine, following a public dispute between the two leaders at the White House in February 2025.

The restoration of connectivity arrives as the United States attempts to restart peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Ukrainian, Russian, and American negotiators are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned talks on Friday, while Zelenskyy announced that technical-level meetings have been agreed upon. These discussions come more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Trump also credited his wife, Melania, with securing a local ceasefire in Oleshky, a town in the Kherson region occupied by Russian forces since 2022. Ukrainian and Russian officials later set the start of the ceasefire for October 27, with a humanitarian operation planned for October 29.

Fighting continued in other areas despite the diplomatic activity. A Russian missile strike on Lozova in the Kharkiv region killed one man and wounded two others on Saturday, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. In Chernihiv, a Russian attack on Friday killed one man and wounded at least 25 people. Officials in Donetsk reported that shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children, while Mayor Vadym Lyakh said attacks in Sloviansk killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four others.

Ukraine reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and overnight into Saturday. These included attacks on the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti and the Proton electronics plant in Oryol. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths in an attack on an unidentified facility in Oryol. Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts following overnight strikes. Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that its air defenses intercepted one SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles, and 1,297 fixed-wing drones over 24 hours, according to TASS.