SpaceX Throttled Ukraine's Starlink Speeds for Seven Days

Elon Musk stated on Saturday that SpaceX intentionally slowed the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine for seven days. The restriction disrupted operations that the Ukrainian military relies on for defense against Russia. The admission appeared in a post on X after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that full speeds had been restored.

Zelenskyy noted that the reduced bandwidth hampered front-line operations for more than a week. He reported that restoration began overnight and was complete by Saturday morning. The return to normal speeds improved logistics and the defense against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones. "The speeds are now where they need to be," Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform.

Musk defended the decision by citing the terms of service for the civilian commercial platform. He argued that using Starlink for offensive drone strikes to kill people had never been permitted. "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be," Musk wrote. He claimed the Ukrainian military had violated these terms and that the company closed the loophole last week.

The situation complicated the relationship between SpaceX and the U.S. government. Musk maintained that the administration controlled changes to Starshield, the military-grade version of the system. He said Starshield underpins Ukraine's drone operations and communications. Ukrainian military commanders reported that the restrictions on Starshield resulted in lost drones and disrupted missions. The episode added strain to relations already tested by U.S. President Donald Trump's reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports.

U.S. officials offered mixed accounts of their involvement. Trump said he did not make the call but that Musk should not be blamed. Vice-President JD Vance hinted at White House coordination with Musk. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied any administration involvement in the decision. Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara credited direct dialogue and Zelenskyy's diplomacy for the outcome.

The resolution coincides with renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war. Russia agreed on Wednesday to resume three-way talks with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a localized ceasefire around Oleshky in the southern Kherson region. U.S. First Lady Melania Trump brokered that agreement.

Combat operations continued during the outage. Local officials reported that a man was killed and two others wounded in a missile attack on Lozova in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian forces hit a chemical plant in Tolyatti and an electronics plant in Oryol. Local officials said three people died in the Oryol attack. Ukrainian drones also reached the Omsk region, more than 2,000 kilometers from the border, where they attacked a logistics center for the online retailer Ozon.