Ukraine needs expanded access to Starlink and Starshield, including wider coverage. The capabilities currently available are not enough.
This was stated by the head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with Newsforce.
"We are extremely interested in the capabilities provided by Starlink / Starshield. We urgently need these capabilities to repel attacks and strike Russian missile systems from which missiles are launched that terrorise Ukraine’s civilian population," Budanov said.
According to him, Ukraine currently has insufficient access to these capabilities.
"We need enhanced capabilities — we need wider coverage," the head of the President’s Office stressed.
Budanov also said that Ukraine critically needs missiles for Patriot air defence systems.
- At present, Ukraine has access to Starlink only on its own territory. The system is also used in Crimea and other regions occupied by Russia. At the same time, SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has restricted Starlink’s operation inside Russia.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Trump during a meeting at the White House in July to speak with Elon Musk about the possibility of using Starlink for Ukraine’s long-range drones.
- Ukraine wants to use such drones to strike Russian ballistic missile launchers, command posts and other military infrastructure up to 200 km from the border.
- Trump did not back Ukraine’s request to allow Starlink to be used for strikes on Russia/ Media reports say that neither Trump nor Musk are ready to approve such a scenario.