American billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk personally ordered a reduction in the communication speed for the military version of Starlink in Ukraine, which caused significant obstacles for the use of Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing American officials and familiar sources.
American billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk personally ordered a reduction in the communication speed for the military version of Starlink in Ukraine, which caused significant obstacles for the use of Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing American officials and familiar sources.
According to the WSJ, the restrictions came into effect on October 14. The reason for this decision was the critical statements of Donald Trump and Elon Musk regarding the attack by Ukrainian forces on Russian oil refineries.
Trump has attributed this to rising fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections, although most analysts believe the main factor is developments around Iran. According to the sources, Musk discussed the issue with Trump and his administration representatives even before the restrictions were imposed.
The Ukrainian side’s public reaction to the threat to the lives of military and civilians due to the speed reduction has created confusion in Washington. Elon said that any speed or usage restrictions are imposed by the US armed forces and the president. At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied the existence of any directives from the Pentagon, noting that SpaceX has the right to independently change the terms of service.
On October 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Starlink and Starshield satellite services were operating with failures at high speeds, which significantly complicates the work of the Ukrainian military.
On October 20, Zelensky reported that he had discussed the Starlink/Starshield issues with US Secretary of State Mark Rubio. The president hopes to speak with Rubio again within the next 48 hours about satellite communications, the supply of interceptor missiles, and intelligence sharing.
