Elon Musk last week ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service that Ukraine relies on, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
Musk, SpaceX and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Ukraine uses Starlink for battlefield communications and drone operations. Restricting the satellite service hampered the country’s attack and air defence drone missions against Russia.
Musk and US President Donald Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning last week, according to the report, which added the two had also discussed the matter before the decision to throttle Starlink.