Have you missed the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Here is the gist of this Saturday, October 24, 2026, the 1,704th day of the conflict.
Fact of the day
Ukraine indicated on Saturday that it once again had a “stable connection” to SpaceX’s Starlink system, crucial for its army, after several days of limiting its speed amid tensions with Washington.
“Department of Defense monitoring systems are recording a recovery in Starlink/Starshield speed. We record a speed above 400 km/h, the connection is stable,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevgen Khmara said in a statement. “This result is above all important for our front, for our soldiers, for the operation of drones, for logistics and for communications,” he added.
Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Starlink throughput had returned to the level before the restrictions. “Currently, this flow corresponds to our needs. Recovery began overnight,” he said in a social media address. “This is of great importance for our logistics on the front line, to protect Ukraine,” he added.
Ukraine has been complaining for several days about a speed limit on Starlink terminals beyond 160 km/h, which notably hampered its ability to use certain drones.
Today's statement
“This decision of the Moldovan authorities is part of the destructive anti-Russian policy carried out by the official authorities in Chisinau, aimed at completely destroying Russian-Moldovan relations”
Russia on Saturday promised a “firm response” to Moldova, which announced the day before the expulsion of a Russian embassy employee by Moldova after the fall of a drone in this country bordering Ukraine.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Friday that “a Russian Gueran-type attack drone” had “violated” the country’s airspace and “crashed near homes and an energy installation.” She announced that a “staff member of the Russian embassy” had been “declared persona non grata in response”.
The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, for her part denounced on Saturday an “unfounded pretext” and considered that the Russian origin of the drone “has not been proven”. According to her, “these hostile actions on the part of the Moldovan authorities will not remain without a firm and adequate response from Russia.”
The number of the day
3. in a Ukrainian strike in the Russian-controlled part of the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, Russian authorities announced.
“Three civilians were killed and a woman was seriously injured following a Ukrainian drone strike on a car in the village of Pisky, in the Kharkiv region,” local governor installed by Moscow, Vitali Gantchev, said on Telegram.
The trend
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian is due to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, where he will go to participate in a meeting of gas exporting countries, Iranian media announced on Saturday. Russia and Iran, two of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, have close political ties.
“The Iranian president will travel to Moscow to attend the summit of gas exporting countries which will be held on Tuesday, October 27,” the Tasnim agency said, citing Iran's ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali. The two presidents must discuss “economic cooperation” between Iran and Russia but also “geopolitical, international and political issues”, according to the Iranian ambassador.
