Getty ImagesElon Musk has said his company SpaceX restricted Ukraine’s Starlink internet service, after Ukrainian officials said connectivity issues appeared to have been resolved.
The tech billionaire accused Ukraine of violating its terms of service by using it for military activity – but denied being responsible for a simultaneous issue with its US-run, military-grade counterpart Starshield.
Kyiv has not officially commented on Musk’s latest claim but Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said his post was “very strange”.
Musk had earlier denied deliberately throttling Ukraine’s connection, which it says hampered its ability to conduct defensive operations.
Musk’s latest comments, and the seeming restoration of the service, came after US President Donald Trump said he had told the Tesla and X owner to “put it back”, having repeatedly denied instructing him to limit the service.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” Musk wrote on X on Saturday.
“Ukraine[‘s] military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”
He went on to say that SpaceX had “done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth” and reiterated his stipulation that Starshield was a different system and controlled by the US government, adding: “What they decide to do is up to them.”
He added in a later post: “[Starlink] can be used for infrastructure that is military, but it cannot be used for unequivocally offensive strikes that make it fair game to be struck back.”
Reacting to Musk’s post, Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram that Ukraine “physically cannot use” commercial Starlink for long- and middle-range drone strikes.
There was no immediate comment from the country’s defence ministry.
Ukraine uses both the civilian service Starlink and the more secure Starshield, depending on what communications are needed, both of which run on networks of low Earth orbit satellites launched by SpaceX.
Starlink allows military units to co-ordinate, particularly in remote areas on the battlefield, while Starshield allows Ukrainian drone operators to see targets in real time, as well as operate interceptor drones.
Russia is not authorised to use Starlink, so when Ukraine sends long-range missiles or drones deep into Russia to hit oil refineries, the network does not work.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said earlier on Saturday that the military was now recording a “stable connection”, with drones now able to reach speeds in excess of 400km/h (249mph). Kyiv previously said the connection would cut out above 161km/h.
“The speeds are now where they need to be,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Musk did not disclose in his post why SpaceX had chosen to make the change to its service last week, when Ukraine’s extensive use of Starlink had been known for several years.
The connection issues coincided with a tense diplomatic standoff between Zelensky and Trump over Ukrainian strikes on oil infrastructure within Russia.
Trump said the strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Kyiv says are crucial to stemming the main revenue source for Moscow’s war effort, have pushed global prices higher.
While the attacks have had an impact on global fuel prices, rises seen this year have primarily been due to the Iran war.
Faced with midterm elections next month and domestic displeasure with rising fuel prices, Trump waived some sanctions on Russia and agreed a deal with Moscow – criticised by European allies as funding Russia’s war machine – to supply Russian diesel to the US and the global market.
Zelensky initially agreed to do so on the proviso that Russia cease striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, before restarting the strikes after several instances of Moscow disregarding this.
The Ukrainian leader said that, as well as seemingly limiting Starlink capability in Ukraine, the US had also threatened to withdraw intelligence sharing if the strikes did not stop, something Trump also denied.
