The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starlink, limiting the speed at which terminals could travel while maintaining connectivity. However, Musk disputed the suggestion that SpaceX independently decided to impose the restrictions, writing on X that the US government controls the limits on Starshield.
“Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration,” the outlet reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
While the sources noted that the throttling caused “confusion” inside the White House, suggesting the move was not coordinated between President Donald Trump and Musk, one person told the outlet that the two men discussed Ukraine’s access before the decision was made.
Additionally, Musk posted on X that the speeds are controlled by Washington, not SpaceX. “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote.
Trump has also denied that he or Musk was responsible for throttling Ukrainian drones. Also, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the US has not limited Ukraine’s access to Starlink.
“We haven’t pulled anything back,” Hegseth said on Tuesday. “There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied (with). That’s where Starlink has the option to make those decisions.”
Last week, Ukraine said that Starlink connectivity had been restricted for terminals traveling faster than 100 mph. Ukraine uses Starshield, the military variant of Starlink nodes on its drones, which travel at speeds over 100 mph.
On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s access to Starlink had been restored after a temporary interruption, though some restrictions remained. “It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” Zelensky told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “Only [the] United States has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles. And we didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days.”
He continued, “It was a message from [the] American government to limit the speed. And technically, SpaceX did it.”
The throttling came as Trump criticized Zelensky for refusing to implement his energy truce with Russia. Trump’s frustration with Zelensky resulted in the US making a deal with Moscow that will allow Russian diesel to be sold on the global market.
Axios reported that the deal resulted from Zelensky refusing to stop attacking Russian energy targets. “Zelensky is misreading the room. By continuing to hit refineries, he is eroding the goodwill that he has built with Trump over the last six months,” a US official told the outlet.
