WASHINGTON: Elon Musk ordered a reduction in Starshield services for Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, after the tech billionaire said any limits on the SpaceX-operated communications system would ultimately have come from the president.
Musk capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, rendering some of Kyiv’s drones useless, the Journal reported, citing anonymous US officials and people familiar with the matter.
Kyiv has accused Washington of deliberately slowing the speeds at which Starshield could be used effectively — a charge denied last week by US President Donald Trump.
Musk had previously said that “any limits on speed or usage” of Starshield systems were “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS”, referring to Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Washington had no prior knowledge of the slowdown.
“The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr Musk,” Rubio said during his trip to India.
“That’s a private company; the president doesn’t run that company and can’t direct that company to do anything… I’m telling you, there was no foreknowledge.”
On Tuesday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, adding: “We haven’t pulled anything back.”
“Nothing’s changed from our view. We haven’t made any directives or anything like that,” he said.
Trump said last week that he had not requested any restrictions on Starshield, adding: “It wasn’t me. And I don’t think it was Elon.”
Kyiv reported restrictions on the service last week, shortly after Trump criticised Ukraine and urged it to stop targeting Russian oil refineries. Ukraine considers the service crucial to defending against Moscow’s invasion.
Ukraine uses Starshield, Starlink’s military-grade satellite service, for battlefield communications, mid-range strikes on Russian-occupied territory and its interceptor drones. It also uses SpaceX’s parallel Starlink civilian satellite system.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have grown increasingly tense in recent days, with Trump calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced after he criticised a US deal allowing more Russian diesel to enter global markets.