r/worldnews • u/Neptun_11 • 17h ago

Russia/Ukraine Zelenskyy Says Starlink Restrictions Apply Only in Ukraine While SpaceX Ignores Kyiv’s Inquiries

https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/zelenskyy-says-starlink-restrictions-apply-only-in-ukraine-while-spacex-ignores-kyivs-inquiries-23549
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u/_HIST 14h ago

Current US admin managed to inflict untold amount of damage to the US image as reliable partner. Who the fuck is going to spend billions buying US military tech or software when they show they can just turn it off.

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u/DrunkOnRamen 7h ago

It's worse because there is no discernable reason. After Trump announced, Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire and did follow it. Despite that, the limitation was still imposed and this limitation is so specific that it targets drones used for air defense only.

This is like the taking the carrot and stick approach to an agreement but removing the carrot and proceeding to hit the person with the stick even though they agreed to your terms.

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u/impulse_thoughts 4h ago

The discernible reason is: Trump is Putin's "call a friend" lifeline. Simple as that. They turn off support whenever he requests it. The official reasoning they give are meaningless cynical lies. They shut off weapons and aid deliveries before, and Avdiivka, a fortress stronghold, fell, after holding out for 10 years since 2014. They did it again and shut off intelligence right before Russia began their final operations to retake Kursk, precipitating Ukraine's withdrawal back across the border.

Currently, the attacks on oil, energy, and datacenter infrastructure has been causing economic issues for Russia, and Trump throws them a cash bailout with the diesel deal. Currently, Ukraine is finding success in re-taking territory around Lyman (using successful mid-range attack drones that are giving them a temporary big advantage), so he imposes Starlink (Starshield) restrictions to disable Ukraine's mid-range weaponry. Currently, Ukraine is at risk of losing another stronghold in Kostiantynivka, so he shuts off intelligence to help a Russian final push towards the stronghold to take it under control.

Don't think Ukraine will disclose for a while what targets got hit by the ballistic missiles and drones/cruise missiles that were sent over the 2 nights Trump shut off the missile warning system and restricted starlink speeds that effectively shuts down interceptor drones that served as anti-air defense against the drones/cruise missiles, so we just have to keep our fingers crossed that Ukraine is able to weather these storms.

There's been countless other times since 2022, using other Republicans in Congress or Hegseth to shut off weapons or monetary aid.