Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S.officials remain at odds over disruptions to a key satellite communications service used by the Ukrainian military.Zelenskyy told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday he believes the U.S.
government is behind his military's loss of normal access to the Starshield and Starlink services, claiming tech firm SpaceX imposed the restrictions in response to a "message from [the] American government."Warning that the U.S.siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a "historic mistake," the Ukrainian leader claimed that the Starshield system has not been fully restored, despite what U.S.
government officials have said publicly.In a post on X over the weekend, Zelenskyy said the restrictions on the system have hindered Ukraine's ability to intercept weapons launched by Russia, calling the consequences "very painful and unpleasant."The dispute comes after days of back and forth between Ukraine and the United States over the Starshield system.Starlink is a satellite internet network operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX to provide internet service to the U.S.and other counties.
Since 2024, the U.S.Defense Department has shared a high-powered military version of the network called Starshield with Ukraine, which has cost the Pentagon billions of dollars.Ukraine relies on the network in its defenses against Russia's nearly five-year full-scale war."We use Starlink to intercept the jet fighters that are hitting our civilians and killing families," said Zelenskyy online.
"We also use Starlink for middle strikes on enemy military targets in our temporarily occupied territories.We were unable to do this when there were restrictions.
And the third, most important thing is people.Our soldiers, who have been on the front line for weeks and months, are being delivered food and water using appropriate drones with Starlink."Zelenskyy said the disruptions to Starshield came without warning last week.
He told NPR in an interview that losing n...