Italy

Rome, October 15, 2026. The Italian press links the Starlink case to a broader suspicion about Washington's reliability towards Kiev. La Repubblica, on October 14, spoke of "two episodes in two days": Russian missiles falling on Kiev without warning, followed by Ukrainian drones losing their satellite connection. "One clue could be a coincidence; two draw a disturbing picture," the daily wrote, while admitting that no evidence establishes that Washington deliberately reduced its technological and informational support.

On the military level, the newspaper details the restriction introduced without notice on Starshield, the military version of Starlink: "Exceeding 160 kilometers per hour, the terminals start losing the signal," explains a commander, with a video to support this. The 7th rapid reaction corps, on the south-eastern front, confirms that it has cancelled operations; in some cases, cuts of about twenty seconds occur even at much lower speeds.

Adnkronos headlines with a Musk who "shuts down" Starlink on "Trump's order". The agency reports the billionaire's response to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhaïlo Fedorov, who thanked him for restoring connectivity up to 160 km/h and demanded the lifting of limits: Starshield belongs to the US government, and any limit is decided by the US military and, "in the last instance", by the president. Starlink, Musk specifies, remains a commercial service of his company. Zelensky, facing Piers Morgan, says he hopes for "a mistake, perhaps a big technical problem" and demands reactivation.

ANSA on October 15 records the episode in the deterioration of relations with Trump. Questioned by the Financial Times, Zelensky announces that Ukraine "will resume attacks on Russian refineries": "The pause is over. We have closed." He says he feels "betrayed" by the rapprochement between Trump and Putin around the diesel agreement and warns: "This is a big mistake, people will die." The agency mentions civilian buildings hit in Kiev and Lutsk and three deaths in the nocturnal attack on the center of the country. According to the FT, the United States has also asked EU countries to unfreeze certain Russian assets.

In a more dramatic title, La Repubblica estimates on October 15 that Kiev "risks capitulating": the wings of the drones would be "broken", the "technological spell" extinguished. The tone oscillates between factual caution and concern for the future of Ukrainian resistance.