Ukraine Warupdated 1h ago2 min read
Elon Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown, Disabling Ukrainian Drones And Defenses
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Musk ordered slowdown of military-grade Starlink used by Ukraine for battlefield communications. Starlink slowdown hampered Ukrainian drone and air-defense missions, WSJ report cited by outlets.
Starlink throttling dispute
Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of SpaceX's Starlink that Ukraine relies on, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing US officials. The Wall Street Journal said Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network last week, and the restriction left some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless.
The report said Kyiv uses Starlink for battlefield communications and drone operations, and restricting the service means restricting the country's attack and defense missions against Russia. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk and US President Donald Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, and some US officials believed Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump did not specifically order retribution against Ukraine.
Kyiv, Trump, Rubio clash
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine was unable to use its interceptors against Russian drone attacks as a result of the restrictions on Saturday, saying that Ukraine had been told that they had been caused by technical issues. Elon Musk posted that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," to his X/Twitter account shortly after the slowdown was publicized.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he did not think he or Musk was responsible for Ukraine losing Starlink access in a way that affected its military operations against Russia, and he told reporters on Monday that he didn't know who was responsible but "would like to find out." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists on Tuesday, "There has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine," and Rubio added that he had had a 45-minute conversation with Zelensky on Tuesday.
Diplomacy and battlefield risk
DW reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after what a US official called "constructive" talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, as Trump said it was time for Ukraine to end the war. Ukraine's top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, told the WSJ on Tuesday that Ukraine was "waiting for the official response from contacts with the Pentagon and SpaceX at the leaders' level to understand what has happened".
The Wall Street Journal reported that the slowdown came as Trump has criticized Zelensky for attacking Russian diesel refineries, saying on October 10, "You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem." The Jerusalem Post reported that Zelensky said the topics included ballistic missile interceptors, early warning of Russian attacks and the situation with Starlink and Starshield satellite services.