Elon Musk said on Saturday that his company SpaceX had throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, disrupting operations that the country relies on to defend itself against Russia. Musk's admission on social media came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links has been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted front-line operations for more than a week. Questions have persisted since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Musk-made satellite internet system that Kyiv has relied on for years to counter Moscow's attacks.
"The speeds are now where they need to be," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that restoration began overnight and were sufficient by Saturday morning, improving front-line logistics and defense against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones. Before Musk's confirmation, questions persisted last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Musk-made satellite internet system that Ukraine has relied on for years to counter Moscow's attacks. President Trump had said he didn't make the call, while also saying Musk should not be blamed.
On Tuesday, CBS News reported that Musk was behind the disruption. In a post Saturday on X, Musk acknowledged that his company SpaceX throttled the Starlink satellite internet service. "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," Musk wrote.
"Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week." But he maintained that the U.S. government controlled whatever changes happened with Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of Ukraine's drone operations and communication. He also defended the role of SpaceX in bolstering Ukraine's defenses since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Restrictions imposed last week on Starshield alarmed the country's military and government officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. The restoration follows a new U.S. diplomatic push to end the war. Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month.
On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localized ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump around Oleshky, a war-ravaged, Russian-occupied town in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. The episode added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington, a relationship already strained by Mr. Trump's reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal.
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