SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that the U.S. government and President Donald Trump are responsible for restrictions on Ukraine’s military-grade Starlink network.
“The StarShield system is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, and limits on its speed and use are determined by the U.S. military and ultimately the president,” Musk wrote in an article for X.
Ukraine had accused SpaceX of imposing new restrictions on its StarShield internet service without warning and disrupting Ukrainian military operations amid new Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s defense technical advisor Serhiy Beskhrestnov said SpaceX had implemented speed limits on operational Starlink terminals without notifying the country’s defense forces.
This caused some missions to be suspended, and the same restrictions applied to Starshield, he said on Telegram. Starlink is used to operate Ukraine’s interceptor drones and is the “most effective solution” to Moscow’s Shahed drones, Beskhrestnov said.
StarShield is a military satellite network, while Starlink is intended only for “civilian or defense operations,” Musk said.
Some restrictions appear to have been partially lifted, with former Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanking Musk early Thursday for restoring Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour. “Completely abolishing the Starshield speed limit is now of vital importance for Ukraine’s defense,” Fedorov added.
The incident comes amid tensions between Kiev and the United States over an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia announced by US President Donald Trump.
But while Ukraine welcomed the deal, which is based on Russia keeping its commitments, Russian officials said talks were ongoing without confirming whether a deal had been reached. President Zelenskyy on Monday accused Russia of violating the ceasefire.
President Trump also took aim at Ukraine, which continues to attack Russia’s energy facilities, and blamed the Kiev attack, not the U.S. war with Iran, for the rise in diesel prices.
The United States has threatened to cut intelligence sharing with Kiev, Reuters reported on Wednesday, while Ukrainian officials said a day earlier that they had not received any warning of a Russian attack on the country for the second day in a row.
—CNBC’s Elsa Olhen contributed to this report.
