WASHINGTON, Oct 16 – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin warned on Friday that a disruption to the Starshield satellite systems Ukraine relies on for its defense will extend Russia’s war and endanger Americans, and he demanded an immediate federal investigation into who restricted Ukraine’s access. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who co-chairs the Senate Ukraine Caucus, made the statement in a post on X as questions mounted over how and why drone speeds on Ukraine’s satellite network were throttled earlier this week.
Durbin’s post, published at 11:38 a.m. on October 16, 2026, read in full:
“The disruption of Starshield systems will only prolong Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine and puts American personnel at risk.
I joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to demand the DOD Inspector General immediately investigate this restriction on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.”
The post points to a letter sent to the Department of Defense Inspector General, which Durbin signed alongside a bipartisan group of senators. Durbin has been among the most consistent Senate voices on the Russia-Ukraine war, and has repeatedly used his role as Democratic Whip and Ukraine Caucus co-chair to press for tougher measures against Moscow.
The Letter to the Pentagon Watchdog
According to the BBC, the letter was led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and expresses grave concern about reports of speed curbs on Ukraine’s satellite service between October 12 and 14. It asks the inspector general to determine whether the restrictions were caused by the Defense Department or its contractors. The Starlink network is a vital tool for Ukraine to guide drones toward Russian targets and defend its own skies, and the restriction capped speeds at 100 mph (160 km/h), meaning any weapon traveling faster lost its connection to the network.
The senators wrote that the restrictions reportedly degraded Ukraine’s ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure. They also said they were deeply concerned about reported disruptions affecting intelligence-sharing and threat-warning capabilities relied on by personnel operating in Ukraine. Most strikingly, they cited incidents in which U.S. diplomatic, military and security personnel were unable to reach designated bunkers during Russian air raids, and said those incidents “require immediate investigation.”
The signatories include Republican Sens. Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Cornyn, along with Democratic Sens. Durbin, Jack Reed, Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Coons.
Who Controls the Speed Limits
Starlink is a civilian service that uses low Earth orbit satellites, while Starshield, which relies on the Starlink network, is designed for government and military use. Both are owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. On Wednesday, Musk wrote on X that “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” and said any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president. A U.S. official, asked whether Washington had a role, said no such request was ever made by President Donald Trump.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a news conference in Brussels that service was still being restored. He acknowledged that speeds had not yet returned to their previous level, but said restoration was underway.
This is not the first time senators have pressed the Pentagon over Starlink in Ukraine. In September 2023, Sens. Shaheen, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth wrote to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, warning that it “poses grave national security risks” if Defense Department contractors can independently cut off services to a U.S. partner.
An “Energy Ceasefire” and a Diesel Deal
The Starshield dispute comes amid a tense stretch in U.S.-Ukraine relations. Zelensky has accused the United States of withdrawing intelligence-sharing to pressure Kyiv into halting attacks on Russian energy sites. Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on Sunday, and Zelensky said Ukraine restricted its attacks for three days and would honor the arrangement if Moscow did as well. He said Russia ignored the proposal within hours, while the Kremlin never said it had agreed to the deal and said Kyiv had tried to hit refineries on Wednesday, which Ukraine denied.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135 on October 9, the day Trump announced he had struck a diesel agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The license authorizes transactions related to the sale, delivery, offloading and importation, including into the United States, of Russian-origin diesel fuel through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on April 7, 2027. It does not authorize any debit to accounts of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund or the Ministry of Finance.
Durbin was one of 12 senators, six Republicans and six Democrats, who signed an October 13 letter to Trump calling the arrangement “a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies” and urging him to rescind the license. The letter noted that Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law on September 18, and asked him to use the authorities it provides. The Senate Democratic leadership and the Foreign Relations ranking member issued their own statement calling the diesel arrangement a betrayal of Ukraine and European allies.
Durbin’s Record on Russia and Ukraine
Durbin’s stance predates the current dispute. In January 2022, as Russia massed troops on Ukraine’s border, he took to the Senate floor to announce support for legislation from then-Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez imposing severe sanctions if Russia invaded further. On the day of the invasion that February, he called it “a dire threat to the established international order.”
In June 2025, Durbin delivered a floor speech titled “The Whole World Is Watching To See If You Will Stand Firm Against Putin,” warning Trump that Putin has no intention of ending the war without greater pressure and urging Senate leaders to bring Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill to a vote. That October, he praised a ceasefire in the Middle East while saying Putin “only responds to military and economic force,” and later urged Republicans to pass the Sanctioning Russia Act, which he said had more than 80 bipartisan cosponsors.
As recently as June 17, 2026, Durbin again called on the Senate to pass Russia sanctions legislation, noting that the House had passed a bill providing additional security aid to Ukraine and tightening sanctions. He described the Senate’s own bipartisan sanctions bill as “pending for months without action,” and criticized the dispatch of a U.S. delegation to a Russian economic forum in St. Petersburg while Putin continued bombing Ukraine.
The Iran War Connection
The fuel-price pressures behind the diesel deal trace back to the U.S.-Iran war, which Durbin has opposed since its start. On March 2, 2026, after U.S. strikes that killed Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he announced support for Sen. Tim Kaine’s war powers resolution, saying there is “no consensus in America for another interminable war in the Middle East.” Two days later, he told colleagues the White House had offered “five different explanations” for the invasion, and Senate Republicans voted down the resolution. Durbin, one of 23 senators who voted against the 2003 Iraq war, cited the Constitution’s assignment of war powers to Congress.
After Republicans again blocked a war powers resolution, this one from Sen. Duckworth, on April 15, Durbin said “we desperately need a coherent plan to end this war” that stabilizes the U.S. and global economy and keeps any further conflict subject to congressional consent. He had also backed a Kaine resolution in June 2025, which failed 47-53 after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
The Defense Department Inspector General has not publicly responded to the senators’ request. The diesel deal was the latest effort by Trump to lower U.S. fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections, as the administration continues to grapple with the political consequences of the Iran war. Meanwhile, many of the sanctions provisions in the Graham Act are due to take effect or require administration action within 30 days of its enactment, around October 18 and 19.