SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused the Ukrainian military of violating Starlink’s terms of service after Kiev announced that access to the service had been restored.
In a post on XSaturday, Musk said the Ukrainian military “violated Starlink’s terms of service and used Starlink in offensive drone attacks to kill people.”
“That loophole was closed last week,” he added, referring to the temporary 160mph speed limit imposed on the service last week. Musk also claimed that StarShield is a separate system controlled by the US government.
Musk also emphasized Ukraine’s dependence on the service, saying it “remains critical to Ukraine’s defense” and asserting that if Starlink were to be shut down, “Ukraine’s front lines would collapse immediately.”
Zelenskiy’s adviser Serhiy Beskhrestnov disputed Mr Musk’s accusation that Ukraine was using commercial Starlink to kill people, saying that due to speed limits and the service’s unavailability over Russian territory, Ukraine “physically cannot use commercial Starlink” for medium- to long-range attacks on Russia.
Serhii Sternenko, a former adviser to Ukraine’s defense ministry, also denied Musk’s claims. “As someone who was involved in this process at the Defense Ministry, I can say with certainty that this is not true,” Sternenko said.
Echoing Beskrestnov’s assertions, he said: “It was technically impossible to use the civilian Starlink system for drone missions. All drone missions requiring satellite communications could only be carried out using Starshield.”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that full access to Starlink and Starshield has been restored. This came after US President Donald Trump announced he had asked Musk to lift restrictions on Kiev’s use of the military version of Musk’s Starlink internet service.
“The Ministry of Defense’s surveillance systems have recorded the speed recovery of Starlink/StarShield,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevheny Kumara said in a statement, adding that recovery speeds of over 400 km/h have been recorded.
For more than a week, Ukraine has faced speed limits on its military’s StarShield satellite terminals, hampering its ability to intercept fast-moving Russian drones.
President Trump and his administration officials have denied calls to curb the use of the Star Shield, which limits speed limits in Ukraine to 160 mph, Ukrainian officials said.
Musk said in a social media post last week that the Trump administration was behind the ban.
This comes after Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine overnight. According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 153 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were launched into Ukraine, mainly targeting large department stores and warehouses. At least three people were killed and 25 injured in the drone attack.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that at least two people were killed and 22 others injured in the Ukrainian attack. The Defense Ministry said 532 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Ukraine were intercepted, adding that industrial facilities were damaged in several regions.
