Zelensky appeals to Musk for restoration after reports of UAV throttling
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X on Wednesday that any limits on the Starshield satellite service supplied to Ukraine’s armed forces are set by the U.S. military and ultimately by President Donald Trump — not by SpaceX.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. Government. Any limits on speeds or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS [the President of the United States],” Musk wrote. “Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. 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,” he added.
Musk’s posts followed reports from advisers to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that on Tuesday evening connectivity aboard Starlink-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles was suddenly throttled when the drones exceeded 100 mph, prompting officials to ask Musk to remove any restrictions. The advisers blamed the disruption on the “political situation.” Former Ukrainian Defense Ministry adviser Serhii Sternenko said it was likely SpaceX acted at the request of the Trump administration, noting that ordinary satellite communication terminals were unaffected and working normally.
Speaking Wednesday during a visit to the United Kingdom, Zelensky appealed directly to Musk. “I hope that it’s a mistake, maybe [a] huge technical problem. I don’t know, but we are asking to… switch [it] on,” Zelensky said.
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Wednesday evening that Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h was being restored. “Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored. Removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine’s defense. Thank you @Elon Musk. We hope for your continued support,” Fedorov wrote online.
The Ukrainian military uses Starshield for what officials described as “middle strike” operations against Russian forces in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, and aboard interceptor drones deployed to try to take down Russia’s latest jet-powered attack drones before they reach their targets, according to UPI.
Defense Ministry sources told The Kyiv Independent on Thursday that operational units using “Starshield-the-move” had reported the system was back up and running, though it remained unclear if all restrictions had been lifted or whether any speed limitations remained in effect.
Hours later, Musk echoed Trump’s calls for Zelensky to go, according to UPI. Musk was responding to a Zelensky statement that the war would only end when Russia was defeated.
The exchanges came after Russian forces launched large-scale attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over two consecutive nights on Monday and Tuesday that left 600,000 people, mostly in and around Kyiv, without power. At least five people were killed and six injured in overnight strikes on Novooleksandrivka and Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk province and the city of Kropyvnytskyi in Kirovohrad province.