Throttling of Elon Musk’s military-grade satellite system affecting whole frontline, says Ukraine’s president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused SpaceX of not telling the truth over restrictions to Ukraine’s Starshield satellite system, saying the decision to impose speed limits appears to be “political” rather than “technical”.

Speaking on Friday, Ukraine’s president said the restrictions affecting Ukrainian drones had been in place for five days. They could no longer fly at speeds of more than 161km/h (100mph), he said, with connections at higher speeds lost.

As a result, incoming jet-powered Russian Shahed drones could no longer be intercepted. Ukraine’s own mid-range strikes against military targets in Russian-occupied territory were also severely affected, he said.