Ukraine Reinstates High-Speed Starlink Links for Military Drones

Military drones in Ukraine can now maintain satellite connections while moving at speeds exceeding 400 kilometres per hour. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced on Saturday that the technical restrictions on Starlink and Starshield networks have been removed. This development restores a critical data link for drone operations that had been severed for more than a week.

The outage began in early October, disrupting communications between Kyiv and its unmanned aerial vehicles. Khmara attributed the resolution to diplomatic efforts by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and direct negotiations with Washington. The restoration allows the Ukrainian military to resume high-speed reconnaissance and strike missions that rely on real-time satellite data.

Tensions between Kyiv and Washington rose during the disruption. US President Donald Trump denied ordering the cutoff but defended the decision-making process involving Elon Musk. Relations had already faced pressure over a temporary US agreement to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports. Trump recently suggested that a different Ukrainian leader should handle negotiations, following a public disagreement with Zelenskyy at the White House in February 2025.

Negotiations to end the war are set to resume in the coming weeks. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the timeline on Friday, while Zelenskyy announced that technical-level meetings have been agreed upon. This round of talks comes more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Trump also claimed that his wife, Melania Trump, helped secure a local ceasefire in the Oleshky settlement in the Kherson region. Ukrainian and Russian officials stated that the ceasefire takes effect on October 27. A humanitarian operation to assist residents is planned for October 29.

Combat continued in other sectors during the final hours of the outage. In the Kharkiv region, a Russian missile strike on Lozova killed one man and injured two others on Saturday. In Chernihiv, an attack on Friday resulted in one death and at least 25 injuries. In Donetsk, shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children. Mayor Vadym Lyakh reported that attacks on Sloviansk killed a 62-year-old woman and injured four others.

Ukraine reported strikes on industrial targets inside Russia overnight. Attacks hit the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Togliatti and the Proton electronics plant in Oryol. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths at the Oryol facility. Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defenses intercepted a SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles, and 1,297 fixed-wing drones within 24 hours.