Musk reportedly ordered Starshield slowdown that disrupted Ukraine’s drone operations

New Delhi: Elon Musk reportedly ordered restrictions on a military-grade satellite communications service used by Ukrainian forces on October 14, disrupting drone operations and air defence missions. The slowdown has left Kyiv seeking answers from Washington as conflicting accounts emerge over who authorized changes to a network vital to Ukraine’s war effort.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk personally directed the restrictions, citing US officials and people familiar with the decision. The Journal reported that Musk and the US president, Donald Trump, discussed the restrictions in a telephone conversation after the slowdown became public. It also cited accounts indicating they had discussed the matter before the decision, although the available reporting does not establish that Trump personally authorized the restrictions. Reuters separately reported that the instruction originated inside the White House, citing unnamed officials who did not identify who issued it.

The disruption involved Starshield, SpaceX’s military-focused satellite service, and not a complete shutdown of commercial Starlink internet across Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said terminals lost connectivity above about 160kmph, affecting strike drones and interceptors pursuing incoming Russian aerial threats.

The distinction matters because Starlink serves civilian and commercial users, while Starshield is offered for government and military operations under separate arrangements. As RNA Media reported earlier, Ukrainian tests found military terminals worked at higher speeds elsewhere in Europe than inside Ukraine.

Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told the Associated Press that SpaceX had fixed initial outages but the speed restriction remained. Ukraine was considering a more expensive aviation package or alternative satellite networks to restore operational capability.

Washington disputes responsibility

In an X post, Musk said Starshield systems were under US government control, adding: “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Trump denied ordering the restrictions and said he doubted Musk was responsible.

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said Washington had not withdrawn Ukraine’s satellite access and referred to service conditions. On Wednesday, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, denied any government directive: “We cannot direct a private company as to the decisions they make or do not make.”

The dispute comes amid worsening US-Ukraine relations following Trump’s decision to waive certain sanctions on Russia and announce an agreement involving Russian diesel supplies. The arrangement envisages an initial supply of more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel to US and global markets, according to Reuters. Trump has also demanded that Ukraine halt attacks on Russian oil refineries and urged Ukrainians to replace Zelenskyy, further straining relations between Washington and Kyiv. However, there is no verified evidence that these disagreements motivated the Starshield restrictions.

Zelenskyy discussed ballistic-missile warnings, interceptors and what his office called “the situation with Starlink/Starshield, which needs to be restored” with Rubio on Tuesday. Ukraine has since reported the return of early missile warnings, but that is separate from lifting restrictions on fast-moving satellite terminals.

Ukraine’s continued dependence on privately operated satellite infrastructure has sharpened questions about battlefield resilience. Whether the speed cap has been fully lifted, and who authorized it, remain unresolved.