Kharkiv Strike: Starlink Logs Show Ukraine Air Defense Throttled Before Drone Attack
Photos reveal connectivity dropped to 0.1 megabytes per second on the day a Russian drone killed five people in a park, six days after SpaceX restricted access.
By Aaron Foster ·
Photographs obtained by CBS News show that Ukraine’s ground-based air defense radars experienced a critical drop in Starlink connectivity on October 19. The data indicates speeds fell to 0.1 megabytes per second, a level insufficient to load a standard webpage, according to a technical source who spoke on condition of anonymity. This degradation occurred on the same day a Russian drone struck a park in Kharkiv, killing five people, including a one-year-old girl.
The timing aligns with a dispute between Ukraine and SpaceX regarding satellite internet usage. On October 13, Elon Musk’s company throttled access to Starlink in Ukraine. Musk posted on X that the Ukrainian military violated the service’s terms of service by using the civilian commercial network for offensive drone strikes inside Russia. He stated that the loophole had been closed.
Ukrainian officials claim the unannounced restrictions hampered their ability to intercept incoming threats. Vadym Ivchenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament serving on the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee, described Starlink as an essential part of the air defense infrastructure. He noted that while other systems remained operational, the loss of this specific connectivity was critical for protecting civilians.
The park in Kharkiv was visited on Sunday by Alina Spichak, the sister of Yulia Spichak, a 34-year-old makeup artist killed in the strike. Alina said the Geran-4 jet-powered drone arrived so quickly that victims did not hear it. Yulia had dropped her son at an English lesson and was sending a selfie to Alina when the drone hit.
Spacey restored full Starlink access across Ukraine on Saturday. Musk admitted to the throttling, arguing that using a civilian service to kill people was never intended. Ukrainian officials have also reported connectivity issues with Starshield, SpaceX’s military-grade network, which serves as the backbone for drone operations. Musk stated that the U.S. government controls changes to Starshield, though the White House referred media to President Trump, who said he did not order the restrictions.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment on the specific bandwidth limitations shown in the photographs. The technical source familiar with the system emphasized that 0.1 megabytes per second would not support the data requirements of air defense radars, raising questions about the operational impact during the week of the dispute.
