Starlink throttling

Russia pounds Kyiv energy sites as Ukraine reports Starlink throttling

Zelenskyy called the strikes deliberate, saying Russia had hit infrastructure covered by the energy ceasefire announced by Trump.

By Milena Wälde and Veronika Melkozerova

Russian missiles and drones struck a residential building and energy infrastructure in Kyiv Tuesday night, killing at least three people and injuring 22, Ukrainian officials said.

Around 600,000 people were without power overnight, while 26 energy facilities and four oil and gas sites were damaged, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine also reported a sudden Starlink speed restriction that disrupted military missions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones and loitering munitions at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the surrounding region and Kharkiv. “This was a targeted Russian ballistic strike specifically against the energy sector” — infrastructure covered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced ceasefire, he wrote.

The deaths in Kyiv include an eight-year-old child, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. “The ballistic attack on the capital continues,” he wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters that Kyiv had received no advance warning from allies for a second consecutive day, while the Air Force said it had received no alerts for the first series of overnight ballistic strikes.

“During the subsequent three waves of attacks, notifications from partners about the use of ballistic missiles were indeed received,” Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ignat said on Ukrainian television Wednesday morning.

U.S. President Donald Trump denied intelligence sharing had been halted: “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel.”

Worries about U.S. intelligence sharing have been worsened by an apparent throttling of Starlink’s capabilities.

Serhii Beskrestnov, who advises Zelenskyy on defense technology, said in a Facebook post that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had set a 100-mile-per-hour speed limit on moving terminals using StarShield, its military service. Ukraine’s armed forces received no warning, he said, and the restriction disrupted several missions. He suggested it was linked to the “current political situation.”

"Starlink is used in what is currently the most effective solution (interceptors units) for protecting our skies against jet-powered Shaheds," Bezkrestonv said in a later post. "In effect, through their actions, our partners are depriving us of one of the few options available to defend the country against jet-powered Shaheds," he added.

“Reports are coming in from many units,” an official familiar with the matter told POLITICO. “There was a speed limit of 160 kilometers per hour. It is primarily logistics and mid-range strikes that will be affected.”

The Ukrainian armed forces “are currently trying to resolve this through military channels with the U.S. and are looking for alternatives,” the official added. “Clearly, this is a limitation not just on speed, but also on trust in SpaceX,” he said.

So-called mid-range strikes form a key part of Ukraine’s defense arsenal, as they can disrupt Russia’s war logistics in occupied Ukrainian territory, well behind the front lines.

Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.

The overnight strikes came days after Trump declared an “energy ceasefire” and demanded Kyiv halt attacks on Russian oil facilities. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had stopped such strikes, but Moscow continued hitting Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected a temporary pause Tuesday, saying Moscow was seeking a lasting settlement.