Friday 16 October 2026 07:30 UTC
Ukraine’s Starlink Returns After 36 Hours of Throttling
Ukraine’s Starlink and Starshield services returned after about 36 hours of throttling that disrupted military communications and drone operations. Two US officials and a Western official said the instruction originated inside the White House, though they did not identify who ordered or carried it out. A senior US official said Donald Trump made no such request. A Ukrainian official said Washington told Kyiv it was a White House decision.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched nearly 1,000 drones from the start of the previous day until his remarks, alongside several waves of ballistic missiles. Strikes on energy facilities left almost 15,000 people without power in Volyn and cut electricity in parts of Kyiv and its region. Attacks on commercial and logistics sites injured 52 people. Ukraine said it struck Russia’s Borisoglebsk airbase with a Long Neptune cruise missile; Zelensky claimed four Su-34 fighter-bombers were destroyed and two damaged, while Ukraine’s navy claimed six were destroyed.
continue reading below
Ukraine has received French production licences for AASM guided bombs, SCALP cruise missiles and Aster 30 air-defence missiles, and wants domestic production to begin as soon as possible. Britain will also provide another package of Storm Shadow cruise missiles in the coming weeks.
The White House has prepared possible strikes on Iranian nuclear or energy infrastructure, including an option involving the conventional “Mother of All Bombs,” according to US media accounts. The weapon can hit surface targets but cannot penetrate deeply buried nuclear facilities. Separately, Israeli media said Western intelligence had detected unusual Iranian military movements and that Israel believed Tehran might be preparing a pre-emptive attack. The reports offered no official confirmation or supporting evidence.