Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday denied that the White House ordered satellite internet service used by Ukraine to be slowed, pushing back against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's assertion that restrictions affecting Kyiv's military operations were deliberate. Rubio said Saturday that "nobody" at the White House ordered the service slowdown and suggested the disruption had since been resolved. "No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet or slow down speeds so that certain drones couldn't use it," Rubio told reporters.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment on Saturday night. His comments come after Zelensky said Ukraine had evidence that restrictions affecting the satellite system inside the country were part of a "planned operation." Serhii Beskrestnov, adviser to Ukraine's presidential office, said this week that a "speed limit" had been imposed on terminals used by Ukraine. The country depends heavily on satellite connectivity to maintain battlefield communications and pilot its extensive drone fleets.
Ukrainian officials said the cap was imposed late on Tuesday, and that it disrupted military operations. Zelensky told a group of reporters Saturday that Ukraine cannot currently use “Starlink or Starshield technology” because of the restrictions, according to CBS News. "Nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down," he said.
"It sort of happened, but my understanding is it's been restored. It's back to where it was before." He went on to say that Ukraine has never had access to Starshield, which is a military product used by the U.S. that is not available to Ukraine. The dispute has been complicated by differing descriptions of Starlink, which is a commercial product, and Starshield, the military-focused system SpaceX developed for U.S. government and national-security customers.
Rubio said Starshield is a "totally different product" under contract with the U.S. military and said Ukraine does not currently have access to it. "I know Ukraine wants access to Starshield. They do not have Starshield now," he said.
"They've asked for access to it in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia. They do not have access to it at this moment." Earlier this week, Elon Musk said the U.S. government, rather than SpaceX, was responsible for restrictions that disrupted Ukrainian battlefield communications, saying decisions over the military's Starshield system were ultimately Trump's decision. Musk made the comments Wednesday after Ukrainian officials said restrictions imposed without warning had disrupted military operations.
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