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There are still cases of Internet uplink lost via Starlink satellites, sources in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine say, after Donald Trump said that the limits of Elon Musk’s service have been reversed.
The sources told the BBC that cases of drones experiencing loss of connection at speeds of 161km/h (100mph) have been recorded, hampering military operations.
The US president denied instructing the tech billionaire to restrict connectivity to Starlink’s military-grade counterpart Starshield, before saying on Thursday that Musk had “put it back”.
Musk previously said he was not behind the extension, which would affect Ukraine’s ability to use attack drones and coordinate defensive operations.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry sources said the military constantly monitors the performance of Starlink and Starshield networks.
They added that there was “no confirmation at this time that these restrictions have been lifted”.
Last week, Kiev said uplink speeds for the low-Earth orbit satellite were limited, affecting the speed at which drones travel. Any drone traveling faster than 100mph lost its connection, officials said.
Shortly after, Musk said that Starshield, which Ukraine uses for some of its operations, was controlled by the US military and suggested that the Pentagon was behind the problems.
The White House has since repeatedly denied that it deliberately placed limits on the network in Ukraine.
Trump declined to say whether he called Musk to ask him Restrictions on the service when asked about reports to that end on Thursday, but said: “Bottom line, he put it back.”
