Musk ordered Starlink slowdown that blindsided Ukraine, WSJ reports; Hegseth denies US role

Elon Musk personally ordered the slowdown of the military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on for drone warfare, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter — a decision that caused panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration.

Last week, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected, rendering some offensive and interceptor drones virtually useless, the Journal reported. Musk and President Donald Trump had voiced anger at Ukraine’s attacks on Russian diesel refineries, which Trump blames for high energy prices. The Journal said the two discussed the decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while one source said they discussed it before the decision.

Musk posted on X after the slowdown became public that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS”. Trump told reporters on Monday he did not know who was responsible, adding: “I would like to find out.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday rejected any US role. “We haven’t pulled anything back,” he told reporters, blaming terms of service that “Starlink has the option to make those decisions” (Al Arabiya). CNN separately reported two senior US officials saying the Starshield order did not come from Trump.

The dispute comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said speed restrictions remained on the military-grade network, hampering battlefield operations, ahead of Tuesday’s Oslo talks with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff that addressed Ukraine’s access to Starlink (Daily Sabah; Times Now).