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Satellite Internet

Musk admits SpaceX throttled Starlink in Ukraine over offensive drone strikes

Elon Musk has said SpaceX throttled Starlink in Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of using the service for offensive drone strikes, hours after Ukraine said Starlink and Starshield speeds had been fully restored.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 1 min read

A hand holding a white Starlink user terminal bearing the SpaceX logo
Photo: jurvetson, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · source

Elon Musk has said his company SpaceX throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, accusing the Ukrainian military of using it for offensive drone strikes to kill people.

“Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week,” Musk wrote on X on Saturday. “Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” he added.

The admission came hours after Ukraine said Starlink and its military-grade version, Starshield, were fully functional again after more than a week of restrictions. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the services had resumed at their pre-restriction speeds, and Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara said monitoring showed a stable connection above 400 kilometres per hour.

The restrictions had capped terminals at around 160 kilometres per hour, hampering Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forcing the cancellation of some operations, Reuters reported. The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Musk ordered the slowdown, and US President Donald Trump said he had called Musk about restoring service.

Reuters reported there was no immediate public comment from Ukrainian officials on Musk’s accusation, and noted that Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory. The admission answers the question left open in Flip News’s restoration report, which noted that nobody had publicly taken credit or blame for imposing or lifting the caps.

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