Elon Musk last week reportedly ordered the slowdown of Starlink technology in Ukraine, hindering the country’s efforts to stave off Russian attacks, according to an article today by the Wall Street Journal.
Musk reportedly capped the speeds of the military-grade version of the Starlink satellite-based network, Starsheild, with Ukrainian officials saying the decision effectively disabled some of its offensive and interceptor drones and left it open to Russian missile attacks against major cities, including Kyiv.
The Journal, speaking to unnamed U.S. officials familiar with the matter, said the slowdown started on Oct. 14 though there is some confusion as to who was informed at the White House. Musk reportedly consulted senior officials in the administration and Trump himself, although another source has said the White House wasn’t consulted at all.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has since aired concern blaming both the U.S. and Musk’s SpaceX for the problems that continued all through last week. Musk denied having any influence on the throttling, writing on X, “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX,” he added. “Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.”
In what seems like a hot potato situation, Reuters last week reported that the decision came from the White House but Trump later denied that neither he nor Musk had any involvement in the matter. “I don’t know if it was anybody, because it wasn’t me and I don’t think it was Elon,” he said on Friday to reporters outside the White House.
President Zelensky disagreed, stating, “The message came from government. I don’t know from whom, what cabinet, and et cetera.” He was certain the order came from the U.S government and, “technically, SpaceX did it.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio today attempted to clear up the matter, telling reporters that Ukrainians dying because of a decision to deny the Ukrainian military American technology is “scandalous.” Rubio ventured that the blackout was a “technical matter” and not “any sort of U.S. directive.”
Trump has come heavy attack recently for what The Atlantic called delivering a “staggering one-two punch” to Ukraine after criticizing Zelensky, reportedly agreeing to the Starlink slowdown, and agreeing a deal Russian leader Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel fuel into the U.S. The New York Times wrote that Trump has “gone so far in putting Russia’s interests ahead of Ukraine’s security.”