Zelenskyy says Starlink still not FULLY restored as White House is blamed for throttling Ukraine's drones

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European leaders in Brussels on Friday that Ukraine's military access to Starlink has not yet been fully restored, directly contradicting assurances given to UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth the day before. The order to throttle the Starshield military satellite service reportedly came from inside the White House, slowing drone guidance systems above 100mph and causing multiple mission failures on the night of 13-14 October. Zelenskyy described the disruption as a "dangerous and unpleasant surprise" and asked the EU for a further €70bn in defence funding for next year.

Speed restrictions imposed remotely by code — without notice — reportedly derailed Ukraine's attack and air-defence drone operations at a critical front-line moment.

Streeting invoked St Francis of Assisi, telling Hegseth: 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony' — but Zelenskyy's Brussels briefing exposed the hollow nature of those assurances.

Trump called Ukraine's renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries 'a disgrace', saying Zelenskyy was pushing world oil prices higher — deepening the public rift with Kyiv.