Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued to express dissatisfaction with SpaceX’s Starshield operating speeds this weekend as the protection of his nation’s energy infrastructure through the winter months becomes a top priority.
“The Russians are targeting substations with ‘shaheds,’” he said in a social media post on Nov. 15. “Many of these strikes are getting through because restrictions on the operating speed of Starshield terminals along the front line and in the temporarily occupied territories are still there.”
“Shaheds” is a name given to a type of Iran-designed and Russian-built suicide drone. Zelenskyy said that Russian forces targeted his nation’s energy infrastructure within the Kirovohrad, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Zhytomyr regions through the night of Nov. 14 and into the morning of Nov. 15.
Starshield is a military-grade variant of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that the U.S. government controls decisions on Starshield speeds.
SpaceX denied reports of renewed restrictions, calling the claims “false” and stating that “there has been no change.”
Zelenskyy echoed his own claims made on Nov. 12 that Ukraine’s interceptor drones lost connection with their operators once they reached speeds of 100 mph and were unable to catch up to Russia’s newer, jet-powered drones. This comes after Ukrainian officials previously reported similar issues with Starshield in October.
Zelenskyy questioned whether or not this latest connection issue was a technical one.
“We are counting on these restrictions being lifted,” he said on Nov. 15. “The protection of lives and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter directly depends on this.”
His concerns with Starshield come as he works to brace his country for another Eastern European winter expected to feature snow and ice and average temperatures between 23 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The first snowfall to reach populated areas was recorded on Nov. 6, along with temperatures around and below freezing.
Domestically, he met with city leaders from across the country to discuss best practices for staying connected through the coming months.
“Preparing cities and communities for the winter is a priority,” Zelenskyy said on Nov. 13. “Especially given Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s critical and transport infrastructure and residential buildings. Energy, air defense, internal security threats, resilient communications and support for our people—all of this needs to be protected, restored and provided for.”
Internationally, he joined the European Political Community meetings in Ireland, and earlier in the week, he secured 20 million euros for the energy sector in the Kherson region from Denmark, as well as a 645 million euro defense package.
“With all our European partners, we discussed how to help Ukraine get through this winter,” he said on Nov. 14. “We discussed what each can do to strengthen air defense and support the energy sector and the railways. It is important that our partners are listening to us.”
Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.
