US pressures Kyiv on the battlefield: Was Starlink’s speed deliberately restricted?

The United States may have deliberately restricted Starlink speeds along the front line in an attempt to pressure Ukraine during peace negotiations with Russia.

TodayPress TV reports, citing the Financial Times, that the restrictions are making it significantly harder for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to intercept Russian jet-powered drones.

The publication noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said military personnel had recorded “systematic speed restrictions” on the Starshield military communications service, which is funded by the Pentagon.

The speed limit for communications equipment operating along the front line and over occupied territories has been reduced to 161 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour).

“These are not random errors, but systematic speed restrictions. For us, this primarily means that intercepting Russian jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles has become significantly more difficult”,- Zelensky stressed.

Senior Ukrainian officials believe the communication speed was deliberately restricted to put pressure on Kyiv during peace negotiations.

The restrictions coincided with the arrival of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Aysel Matlab