Elon Musk has acknowledged that SpaceX imposed a Starlink speed restriction in Ukraine, disrupting satellite communications used by the country’s military, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said access had now been restored.
Mr Zelenskyy said the service had returned to the speeds required by Saturday morning after restoration began overnight. He said the improvement was helping front-line logistics and Ukraine’s defences against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones.
Musk says Starlink restrictions followed military use
In a post on X, Mr Musk said SpaceX had throttled the Starlink satellite internet service after alleging that Ukraine’s military had used it for offensive drone strikes.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” he wrote. “Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”
The restrictions had caused concern among Ukrainian government and military officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions. The country has relied on Starlink for communications and operations since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Mr Musk said the US government controlled changes involving Starshield, SpaceX’s military-grade satellite internet service, which he described as central to Ukraine’s drone operations and communications. He also defended SpaceX’s contribution to Ukraine’s defences.
Questions over who ordered the interruption had persisted for more than a week. President Donald Trump had said he did not make the decision, while also saying Mr Musk should not be blamed.
The restoration came amid a renewed diplomatic effort by the US to end the war. Russia agreed to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month, while Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a localised ceasefire around Oleshky in the Russian-occupied Kherson region.
The dispute added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington. Mr Zelenskyy thanked Americans and Ukraine’s other partners, while crediting direct dialogue and diplomacy for the restoration of service.
