If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy needed a reminder that Ukraine’s war with Russia may well be decided in the skies by the nation with the most advanced weaponry, then it was delivered this week – seemingly by the United States.
On the night of Oct. 13-14, 2026, the guidance system Ukraine’s military uses to blunt Russia’s aerial attacks suddenly stopped working normally. The system, called Starshield, is funded by the U.S. government and run by Elon Musk’s low Earth orbit telecommunications company Starlink, part of SpaceX. Ukraine uses the system to counter strikes and to target Russian military forces and logistics in occupied Ukrainian territory. But new speed restrictions, imposed without notice remotely by code, contributed to multiple mission failures.
