Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said “there needs to be an investigation” over speed limits affecting the Starlink network used by Ukraine. Partial transcript as follows: MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about Elon Musk’s SpaceX
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How are Ukraine’s drones disrupting Russian supply lines — and can Ukraine hold on to its advantage? Flying far behind enemy lines, “middle-strike” drones hunt the fuel, ammunition, and reinforcements Russia needs to sustain its assaults. Starlink has helped make this campaign possible, but dependence on
The US has resumed sharing intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches with Ukraine after a pause of several days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC News on 18 October. The blackout fell on days when Russia was firing ballistic missiles at Ukraine. Limits on the Starlink satellite service that Ukraine’s forces rely on remain in place, he said.
Russia has leaned on ballistic missiles in this month’s strikes on Ukraine’s grid, firing 39 in a single attack, and Ukraine is short of interceptors to stop them. Washington has used its support as leverage, reportedly telling Kyiv to spare Russian refineries or lose US intelligence and arms.
The sharing had been blocked for some period of time before it was restored, Zelenskyy said on Meet the Press.
“We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” he said.
Ukraine gets other intelligence from Europeans and dozens of other partners, he explained. But only the United States has the data that tells Kyiv when Russia launches ballistic missiles.
“We didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days,” Zelenskyy said.
A timely warning gives Ukraine’s air defenses extra minutes to prepare and lets authorities alert civilians, Liga noted. Late on 12 October, Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv before the air-raid alert reached people, with no advance data on launches from Russian territory. The next day, US President Donald Trump said Washington was still sharing intelligence. Two days later, Zelenskyy said Kyiv had received no US warnings of incoming ballistic missiles while it paused its strikes on Russian refineries at Washington’s request. That pause followed the energy ceasefire Trump declared on 11 October, which Russia never confirmed.
Starshield, the military version of Starlink, still cuts out above 161 km/h, Zelenskyy said, too slow for Ukraine’s interceptor drones to catch Russia’s jet-powered Shahed-type drones. NBC News, which aired the interview, separately reported that Starlink services had resumed at normal speed. He said Ukraine’s generals and government believe the order came from the US government and SpaceX carried it out, though he did not know who exactly made the call. Ukraine had instead asked SpaceX and Trump to open Starlink over Russia so it could hit ballistic missile launchers, he said.
“If [Trump] will personally decide to lift this decision, it will immediately work as it was before,” he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who appeared on the same show, called Zelenskyy’s charge “very reckless” and said Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had denied any administration role. Asked about the break in intelligence sharing, he said he did not know anything about it but that Zelenskyy should be “very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true.” Reuters had reported, citing three officials, that White House officials ordered the Pentagon to limit the service.
Asked whether Ukraine could win without the United States, Zelenskyy said it would be very difficult.
“But if the United States will support Putin, I mean, it’s unbelievable, it’s tragedy. It’s historic mistake and big tragedy,” he said.
He also said his team had received word that US negotiators wanted to meet, and that he had offered to meet in Brussels or London, hoping the US team would be ready this week.
The warnings are back, but they stopped once without explanation. Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s missiles still runs through decisions made in the US.
Key developments on Oct. 17-18
Someone tried to set fire overnight to a Lithuanian company that stores Starlink communication equipment, but tipped-off guards foiled the attempt, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said. He linked the attack to Russia’s hybrid war against Europe. It is the third suspected sabotage of Starlink infrastructure in Europe in under a month.
Russia keeps attacking Ukraine at the front and from the air while running a sabotage campaign behind the lines in Europe, which ISW has linked into one pattern. Starlink keeps Ukraine’s drone units and front-line troops connected, and Poland pays for much of that service.
The attack came just after midnight, the prime minister wrote. Security services had warned the company about possible attacks, security was stepped up, and the attempt failed.
The company provides connectivity through nine Starlink satellite antennas used by Ukraine, Sinkevičius told Lithuanian public radio LRT. At almost 2 a.m., intruders tried to burn the antennas and their control unit, leaving behind incendiary liquid in canisters of 3 to 10 liters.
“It is obvious that this is part of Russia’s hybrid war with elements of sabotage,” he said, adding that the client was likely “the Russian side.”
He said he believes the people involved, and how many there were, are known, but gave no details, citing the investigation.
Police Commissioner General Arūnas Paulauskas said no suspects had been detained, any damage was minimal, and the company kept working. A pretrial investigation is under way.
Hours later, an object that apparently entered from Poland crossed northern Lithuania, and NATO jets failed to identify it, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said. Possible fragments were found in the Pasvalys district near the Latvian border. Latvia’s military said the object may have blown itself up on a course toward Latvia.
Sinkevičius said the sabotage version had to be checked for the drone too. He called the National Security Commission for Monday, 19 October, to examine both incidents and consider giving services more powers to neutralize drones.
In September, a fire destroyed the distribution panel at a Starlink ground station in Wola Krobowska, Poland. Germany detained two Turkish nationals on 12 October, and Warsaw blamed Russian intelligence. In Bulgaria, masked intruders burned 11 of 17 Starlink antennas near Sofia.
Per giorni a Kiev si è parlato di sabotaggio. Sabato Marco Rubio ha risposto liquidando l’accusa. “Non sono sicuro che Zelensky sappia di cosa sta parlando”, ha detto il segretario di Stato ai giornalisti, aggiungendo che nessuno alla Casa Bianca ha ordinato di rallentare la rete perché certi droni non potessero usarla. Una ricostruzione che ha definito “categoricamente falsa”. La vicenda è esplosa tra il 13 e il 14 ottobre. I militari ucraini hanno denunciato che i terminali, compresi quelli di Starshield, la versione militare di Starlink, perdevano il collegamento oltre i 160 chilometri orari circa. Un limite che mette in difficoltà i droni, guidati a distanza proprio tramite questa rete. Nelle stesse ore Zelensky lamentava che per due notti l’intelligence americana non aveva avvisato Kiev dei bombardamenti russi.
Da lì il rimpallo di responsabilità. Elon Musk ha ricordato che Starshield appartiene al governo americano e che i limiti li decidono il Pentagono e, in ultima istanza, il presidente. Il 16 ottobre Reuters, citando tre fonti informate, ha scritto che il Pentagono aveva ricevuto dalla Casa Bianca l’istruzione di rallentare il sistema per i militari ucraini, senza che le fonti sapessero dire chi, nell’amministrazione, l’avesse deciso. Un alto funzionario ha escluso che la richiesta venisse da Trump, il quale ha detto di non averlo fatto. Un gruppo di senatori americani, quattro repubblicani compresi, ha chiesto l’avvio di un’indagine.
Quanto a Rubio, nella replica il segretario di Stato ha sottolineato che “Starlink è un servizio commerciale, gestito come tale”; Starshield è invece un sistema militare, legato a un contratto con le forze armate americane, e l’Ucraina al momento non vi ha accesso. Kiev avrebbe chiesto di poterlo usare per colpire in profondità in territorio russo. Una richiesta che, al momento, è in discussione.
Il sospetto di Kiev nasce anche dalle tensioni attuali con l’Usa. Il 10 ottobre Trump aveva detto che è “ora che l’Ucraina cambi presidente”, accusando Zelensky di non voler chiudere un accordo con la Russia. Washington preme inoltre perché Kiev smetta di colpire le raffinerie russe. Un legame con Starlink, però, resta tutto da dimostrare: secondo Reuters la rete non funziona in territorio russo, e i droni diretti contro l’industria petrolifera usano altri sistemi.
L'articolo Starlink, Rubio: “Zelensky? Forse non sa di cosa parla”. Il nodo ora è Starshield, cos’è successo ai satelliti dell’Ucraina proviene da Affaritaliani.it.
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