Musk ordered cuts to Ukraine's Starshield services, report says

SpaceX founder Elon Musk ordered a slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink used by Ukrainian forces, sparking panic in Kiev and causing confusion within the Trump administration, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

US officials familiar with the situation told the WSJ that Musk capped the speeds of the Starlink satellite internet service used by Ukraine, rendering some of its military drones virtually useless.

Both Musk and President Donald Trump have voiced their anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high oil prices.

Musk and Trump discussed the Starlink decision before and after the slowdown became public last week, according to sources cited in the report, while the president made clear that he had not ordered it.

Musk posted on X hours after the slowdown became public that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," the acronym for the President of the United States.

However, Trump told reporters on Monday that he didn't know who was responsible for the Starlink slowdown, adding, "but I would like to find out."

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that "we haven't pulled anything back," but "Starlink has the option to make decisions concerning its terms of service."

"We haven't made any directives or anything like that," Hegseth added.

"Musk acted unilaterally”

After the Starlink slowdown was carried out, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "Ukrainians could die if the unrestrictive service wasn't restored."

Some US officials told The Wall Street Journal that "Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump didn't specifically order any retribution against Ukraine."

Ukraine uses Starshield, Starlink's military-grade satellite service, for its battlefield communications, mid-range strikes, and its interceptor drones. It also uses SpaceX's parallel Starlink civilian satellite system.

Relations between Washington and Kiev have been increasingly tense in recent days, with Trump calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be replaced after he slammed a US deal allowing more Russian diesel into global markets.

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Source: TRT