Yesterday morning, the Ukrainian government openly accused Elon Musk and his company SpaceX of undermining Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. They made this claim after limiting Starlink internet services, which is a complete danger due to the threat and intense Russian ballistic missile attacks. Ukraine also said that it came without the usual warning from their allies.
In response, Elon Musk put the responsibility for the restrictions being placed on President Donald Trump’s shoulders on social media, saying the military version of Starlink, called Starshield, is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, not him. He has no control over that sector and is not the person to be pointing fingers at.
And Musk’s statement may not be far off, as there has been a rise in pressure from Trump to halt strikes on Russia’s energy industry. And now Kyiv and its backers are worried that Washington could cut off battlefield support to try to force it into concessions at the negotiating table. But this isn’t just negotiations at stake; it’s the lives of the civilians and their homes and cities being put at stake with these limited services being put in place.
Trump insisted the U.S. was still sharing intelligence, but with relations spiraling, Ukrainian officials and military units accused them (SpaceX and now Trump) of slowing technology essential to their battlefield communications and drone operations. It is not immediately clear what might be behind the Starlink interruptions, but the timing could not be a coincidence.
The Ukrainian government came out and said it has still not received any response from Space X nor Starshield regarding the slow services interrupting battlefield communication and drone operations, a Ukrainian official stated to news sources, with the low speeds affecting Ukrainian units’ UAV speeds and performance being extremely low and slow.
