Ukraine says Musk’s Starlink restrictions are disrupting defenses against Russian attacks

Satellite connection problems

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that connection problems with the Starlink satellite network were again affecting Ukraine’s ability to defend against incoming Russian missiles and drones. Ukrainian interceptors have reportedly lost Starshield guidance when flying faster than about 100 miles per hour.

A Ukrainian official told CBS News the restrictions applied in occupied Ukrainian territories and across the contact line. The official said the limits began gradually three days earlier and had reached full effect.

Zelenskyy did not assign blame for the latest problems. A Ukrainian source told CBS News they were certain SpaceX had imposed the restrictions, as officials in the United States and Ukraine said happened during an outage last month.

Attacks hit cities and energy

Russian drones struck an apartment building in Kyiv overnight, killing one woman, authorities said. More energy infrastructure was hit in Rivne in northwestern Ukraine, leaving people without power as temperatures fell.

Authorities said more than 600,000 people were left without power in Ukraine after strikes. Russia said it intercepted more than 70 Ukrainian drones Thursday, including several headed for Moscow. European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said Starshield services needed to be restored urgently so Ukraine could keep its soldiers connected, protect civilians and defend its territory.

Envoys discuss peace efforts

President Trump’s senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After two days of talks, Kushner said he wanted European countries involved in the peace process, a role Ukraine and its European partners have long sought.

Major obstacles to an agreement remain. Putin is demanding that Ukraine surrender all of the eastern Donbas region, roughly 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including areas Russian forces have not captured.

Putin also wants guarantees that European countries will step back from Ukraine’s future security. Kyiv has long sought membership in NATO, while Russia accuses U.S. European allies of participating in the war.

Zelenskyy warns of Russian aims

Zelenskyy raised the Starshield restrictions again while in Dublin for a European Political Community Summit with other leaders. He alleged that Putin had told people close to him he wanted to destroy life in major Ukrainian cities, naming Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa.

Zelenskyy said any U.S. decisions that treated Ukrainian territory as though it did not belong to Ukraine would signal where events were heading. He said Ukraine must never recognize Russia’s occupation of its territory.