The America-Ukraine link grows even spottier

In Washington last week's move to cut Ukrainian drones' connections to Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite internet service, might have seemed like a diplomatic warning. In Ukraine it was felt on the battlefield. In a single sortie, one unit saw $1m-worth of drones fall from the sky after limits were imposed on any that flew faster than 160kph. (By October 22nd some links were functioning again without speed limits, according to Ukrainian commanders.) No one in Donald Trump's administration admits to making the decision. It appears to have come from a small circle around the president, Mr Musk and Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to Russia. Reports suggest Mr Musk wanted to punish Ukraine for striking Russian refineries. One official says he contacted the White House only after imposing the restrictions.