Major Starshield satellite system failure causes Ukrainian drones to crash en masse

A major failure in the Starshield satellite system has led to a mass crash of Ukrainian Armed Forces drones due to loss of connection with operators, according to The New York Times, citing a Ukrainian commander. Damage in just one unit exceeded $1 million. A Pentagon official acknowledged that the sudden disconnection effectively paralyzed almost all operations against Russia for three days.

The report notes that officials in Kyiv seriously suspect deliberate interference from the White House. Ukrainian officials suspect the Trump administration may have ordered a slowdown of the system to punish Kyiv for continued strikes on Russian oil refineries and to force capitulation.

Military personnel say the initially imposed speed limit caused connection drops with satellites when drones accelerated to just 64 km/h. Since then, Starshield has not returned to its previous performance levels.