Starlink drone links restored at 400 km/h after weeklong outage

Ukrainian military satellite connections are fully operational again, ending a week of disruption that stalled drone missions. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced on Saturday that links for equipment moving faster than 400 kilometers per hour are stable. The restoration removes a technical barrier that had limited Ukraine’s ability to target Russian forces with high-speed assets.

Khmara attributed the fix to talks with Washington and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s diplomatic efforts. The exact origin of the restrictions remained unclear, though US President Donald Trump denied responsibility while defending SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The incident intensified friction between Kyiv and Washington, which had already strained over recent US moves to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports. Trump recently suggested that someone other than Zelenskyy should negotiate for Ukraine, a comment following a public confrontation at the White House in February 2025.

The resolution arrives as the United States pushes to revive peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. Negotiators from all three nations are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. This gathering comes more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned talks on Friday, and Zelenskyy announced agreement on technical-level meetings.

Trump also credited his wife, Melania Trump, with securing a local ceasefire in Oleshky in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region. Russian forces have occupied that area since 2022. Ukrainian and Russian statements placed the ceasefire start date at October 27, with a humanitarian operation planned for October 29.

Combat continued in other regions. Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported that a Russian missile strike on Lozova in northeastern Kharkiv region killed one man and wounded two on Saturday. In northern Chernihiv, a Russian attack on Friday killed one man and wounded at least 25 people. Donetsk officials said shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children. Sloviansk Mayor Vadym Lyakh reported that Friday’s attacks there killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four people.

Ukrainian forces reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and overnight into Saturday. Targets included the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti, a major synthetic rubber producer. Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage but no casualties. Ukraine also claimed a hit on the Proton electronics plant in Oryol, which manufactures missile components. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths at an unidentified facility in that region. Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts after overnight Ukrainian attacks. Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed its air defences intercepted one SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles and 1,297 fixed-wing drones over 24 hours, according to TASS.