On October 17, 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while speaking to the press, commented on the situation surrounding the operation of the Starlink and Starshield satellite systems in Ukraine, and also denied accusations of allegedly deliberate restrictions on communications by Washington.
On October 17, 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while speaking to the press, commented on the situation surrounding the operation of the Starlink and Starshield satellite systems in Ukraine, and also denied accusations of allegedly deliberate restrictions on communications by Washington.
Answering journalists' questions about the status of Elon Musk's technologies, the head of the State Department emphasized the clear distinction between the two products.
"Starlink is a commercial product that is regulated and operated as a commercial system. Starshield is a defensive, military product. And as I said, this is what the United States military uses. At this point, it is not available to Ukraine, and this issue is being discussed. There are ongoing discussions about how they would like to use it," Rubio said .
Journalists also inquired about the possible involvement of the United States in the disruptions to the Starlink network in Ukraine, recalling statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the intentional nature of the disruptions.
"I don't know what Zelensky said. I'm not sure Zelensky understands what he's talking about, but it definitely wasn't done intentionally. We have nothing to do with this. No one in the United States gave the order to slow down Starlink. It just happened, but according to my information, the network has already been restored. Everything is back to normal. However, this is about Starlink - they used it for their drones," the US Secretary of State emphasized.
Recall that yesterday Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainian journalists that Ukraine had conducted its own verification to find out whether there are any Starlink restrictions on the territory of our country . To do this, the EU tested several cars with terminals that accelerated to 180 km/h and more. As a result, the conclusion was made that there are no restrictions on the territory of the European Union.
Commenting on theories about the causes of the communication failures recorded in Ukraine, the head of American diplomacy categorically rejected any involvement of the White House in these events.
"No one in the White House ordered anyone to slow down the internet or reduce the speed so that certain drones could not use it. According to my information, everything is already working and restored - that's what we heard two days ago," Marco Rubio concluded.
