By Lauren Kent, Kosta Gak, Adam Cancryn, Kevin Liptak, Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Elon Musk had restored Ukraine’s access to a military-grade version of his Starlink internet service, but Ukrainian officials have said restrictions remain in place that are complicating Kyiv’s war effort.
Trump asked Musk in a phone call in recent days to restore Ukraine’s full access to the Starshield satellite system, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump had been seeking information about the slowdown and went to the billionaire owner of Starlink and Starshield’s parent SpaceX, after Ukrainian officials reported disruptions, the source said.
Trump has declined to comment on the call publicly, telling reporters at the White House: “Whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn’t make any difference, I guess. The bottom line – he put it back.”
But Ukrainian officials said the restrictions persist.
“Unfortunately, the situation remains the same, and we still have the limits imposed,” Denys Sienik, charge d’affaires for the Ukrainian embassy in the US, told CNN Friday evening, adding that his country is receiving “mixed messages.”
Trump told reporters Friday that he would speak to Musk if the issue isn’t fixed and get Ukraine’s access to Starshield “straightened out.”
For more than a week, the restrictions have disrupted any military ordnance moving at high speeds – hindering interceptor drones in defending against Russian attacks and upending Ukrainian military operations in many areas of the front line, Ukrainian officials have said.
Sienik, currently Kyiv’s top diplomat in Washington, said the speed limit is currently set at 100 miles per hour, at which point connection with the drone is lost, making it difficult to intercept fast-moving Russian drones.
Russia has been launching jet-powered drones flying at speeds surpassing 300 miles per hour, “which are causing more destruction and claiming the lives of Ukrainians,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped the speed restrictions would be lifted, in remarks on Friday afternoon Kyiv time.
“We hope that the SpaceX and American administration will do it … We count on such decisions.”
“There are definitely speed limits; nothing has changed yet, at least from what I can see here,” a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer told CNN. “It makes coordination difficult; sometimes there are interruptions. The connection drops out for 10 to 15 seconds.”
“We lost a lot of assets, much more than usual,” the officer added, saying the restrictions have affected reconnaissance drones and drones with Starlink-equipped systems on board.
Trump and some of his top officials had denied making the call to throttle Ukraine’s use of Starshield, without offering any clear explanation for what had actually happened. Earlier this week, Trump said he was not involved.
Pressed Friday by CNN’s Alayna Treene on who ordered the slowdown in the first place, Trump said: “I have no idea, but I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”
Musk also denied taking unilateral action, pointing the finger toward the Trump administration. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he said in a social media post last week.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump called Musk last week to request he restore Ukraine’s full access to the satellite communications network.
Zelensky also addressed Ukraine’s critical shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors on Friday, saying: “The delivery of interceptors to protect us against Russian ballistic missiles is still delayed. We are waiting for interceptors that were already agreed on, but they are still not coming.”
Zelensky said he hopes Ukraine will have another meeting with American negotiators in the coming week, which follows his talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday.
While Ukrainian defenses remain hampered by the Starshield restrictions, Russian attacks using jet-powered drones and other strike drones have continued. Russia launched 176 attack drones on Thursday night and in the overnight hours, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
At least nine civilians have been killed and 76 injured in the last day, according to a CNN tally of local officials’ reports across the country.
The deputy energy minister of Ukraine said that Russian attacks targeted energy infrastructure in six regions, leaving more than 500,000 people without power on Friday. The country’s State Emergency Service also said a series of attacks on the Sumy region hit civilian infrastructure and residential areas.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it hit a railcar depot used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the central Poltava region and the Danube River port of Vylkove in southern Ukraine.
Russia also intercepted and destroyed 443 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defense ministry said. Three civilians were injured by falling debris in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, according to the local governor on Friday.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Victoria Butenko, Lucas Lilieholm, DJ Judd and Lex Harvey contributed to this report.
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