Zelensky and Rubio Contradict Each Other on Ukraine’s Drones
Ukraine still cannot use the satellite network to shoot down jet-powered Russian drones, its president said on Saturday, giving a precise figure: the service cuts out above 161km/h in Ukraine while working above 180 in the European Union. The American secretary of state replied that he was “not sure Zelensky knows what he’s talking about” and that the service had been restored.
This is an unresolved dispute between named officials and is reported as one. On one side Marco Rubio says “nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down. It sort of happened, but my understanding is it’s been restored”, and the American defence secretary told his British counterpart on Thursday that it was back. On the other Volodymyr Zelensky says “nobody there is answering our military or the Ministry of Defense now”, and Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Washington said that “based on the data currently available to us, we cannot confirm that these capabilities have been fully restored”. They also disagree on what Ukraine ever had: Mr Rubio insists the military-grade service “has nothing to do with Ukraine” and that Kyiv has asked for access to conduct deep strikes inside Russia, while Mr Zelensky speaks of both products being throttled on Ukrainian territory. Elon Musk’s position is that the military network is “owned and controlled by the US government”. Russia struck more than fifteen power generation and transmission sites on Saturday.