Trump claims Ukraine's Starshield access restored, but Kyiv says restrictions remain: What's really happening?

Ukraine said on Friday that restrictions on the Starshield military satellite communications service were still disrupting its battlefield operations, contradicting US President Donald Trump's claim a day earlier that Elon Musk had restored the country's access to the network. News agency AFP quoted a source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry telling reporters that there was no confirmation that the restrictions had been lifted, with signal disruptions continuing to affect military equipment moving at high speeds. "As of this morning, instances of signal loss are still being observed," the source said. "There is currently no confirmation that the restrictions have been lifted." Trump had said on Thursday that Starshield was "back", following reports by The Wall Street Journal that he had asked Musk to restore Ukraine's access to the satellite communications network. Asked whether he had personally contacted Musk, Trump told reporters at the White House, "Whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference, I guess. The bottom line - he put it back." However, Ukrainian officials said they had not observed any broad restoration of service. Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said, "At this time, we are not observing any lifting of restrictions on Starlink." He added, "There are isolated cases where Starlink may operate slightly faster than the restrictions allow, but this is likely due to the SpaceX algorithm or specific usage conditions, rather than a lifting of the restrictions." A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer told CNN that speed limits remained in place and connectivity interruptions were complicating military coordination. "There are definitely speed limits; nothing has changed yet, at least from what I can see here," the officer said. "It makes coordination difficult; sometimes there are interruptions. The connection drops out for 10 to 15 seconds." The officer added, "We lost a lot of assets, much more than usual," saying the restrictions had affected reconnaissance drones and drones equipped with Starlink systems. A third source familiar with the situation told CNN that any restored access remained insufficient to intercept jet-powered drones launched by Russia. Ukraine was awaiting clarification from Washington, the source said. Why Starshield matters to Ukraine Ukraine uses Starshield, the military-grade satellite communications service operated by Musk's SpaceX, for battlefield communications, strikes against Russian-occupied territory and interceptor drones used to defend against aerial attacks. The restrictions reportedly began affecting Ukrainian equipment more than a week ago, with systems travelling above 100 miles per hour (161 kmph) experiencing signal loss. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Trump had contacted Musk to request the restoration of Ukraine's access. Trump declined to comment directly on the Wall Street Journal report, saying, "I don't want to comment one way or the other, but my relationship with Elon is a very good one." Musk had previously denied taking unilateral action, saying, "Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS." US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield. Trump had also said last week that he was not involved. Russian attacks continue The connectivity dispute comes as Russian attacks on Ukraine continue. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 176 attack drones on Thursday night and into Friday morning. According to a CNN tally based on reports from local officials, at least nine civilians were killed and 76 injured across Ukraine in the preceding 24 hours. Ukraine's deputy energy minister said Russian strikes targeted energy infrastructure in six regions, leaving more than 500,000 people without electricity on Friday. The State Emergency Service also reported attacks on civilian infrastructure and residential areas in the Sumy region. Russia's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces had struck a railcar depot used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Poltava region and the Danube River port of Vylkove. It also claimed to have intercepted and destroyed 443 Ukrainian drones overnight. The governor of Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region said falling debris had injured three civilians. The dispute over Starshield comes amid renewed tensions between Washington and Kyiv, with Trump criticising Zelensky and calling for his replacement after the Ukrainian president objected to a US deal waiving certain sanctions to allow more Russian diesel into global markets.