Washington DC: Billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk directed an intentional slowdown of Ukraine's essential military Starlink network, sparking widespread alarm in Kyiv and leaving the Trump administration bewildered, The Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported.
Earlier in the day, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the United States ordered any reductions or restrictions to the military-grade Starshield satellite network relied upon by Ukraine, addressing questions regarding whether the service has been scaled back on the battlefield.
Hegseth's denial
Clarifying Washington's position during a gaggle with the press, Hegseth emphasised that the US military has not instructed any changes to the satellite service.
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"We haven't pulled anything back," Hegseth said. "Nothing's changed from our view. We haven't made any directives or anything like that. And we wish the Ukrainians obviously success."
Hegseth indicated that any operational changes or performance adjustments to the communications system would fall under the satellite provider's contractual terms.
"There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied with," Hegseth added, noting that "that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions."
Rubio's clarification
A similar clarification was voiced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also refuted Washington’s involvement in the reported disruption of Starlink connectivity in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Rubio explained that Starlink is a commercial product and is not operated by the White House. Addressing the reports of Starshield disruptions, he said that Ukraine currently does not have access to the defence product.
Starshield is controlled by the US government, and Starlink is a commercial service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Rubio said, “Starshield is a defence and military product; that is something that the United States military uses. It is not available to Ukraine, and it is under discussion how they want to use it. I don’t know if Zelensky knows what he is talking about. In the United States, nobody ordered that Starlink's speed be slowed down. In my understanding, it has been restored. That is Starlink; they were using Starlink. Starshield is in contract with the US military, has nothing to do with Ukraine.”
'Ukraine wants access to Starshield'
“Ukraine wants access to Starshield… in order to conduct deep strikes inside Russia. They do not have access to it at this moment. I don’t know what their theory is, but it has nothing to do with the White House. I saw a report the other day; it is categorically false. No one at the White House ordered the slowdown of the internet so certain drones couldn’t use it,” he added.
This came after Ukraine's military operations were affected by restrictions on satellite communications services, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raising concerns over disruptions to Starlink connectivity as Kyiv faces continued Russian strikes, according to Axios.
Zelensky accused Musk of restricting Ukrainian access to Starlink during an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan on "Piers Morgan Uncensored", alleging that the disruption had affected military operations and Ukraine's ability to defend against Russian strikes.
"I am sure they knew what they did, absolutely," Zelensky said, referring to the reported disruption.
"Because it was 1 am at night, (when) Starlink was blocked by SpaceX and the United States," he added.
According to CNN, Ukrainian authorities said they were caught off guard by restrictions affecting Starshield, the military-grade satellite communications system owned and controlled by the US government.
Ukrainian forces rely on Starlink to operate reconnaissance and interceptor drones, gather intelligence and conduct other military operations.
A Ukrainian military source with direct knowledge of the operational impact told CNN, "The complications are substantial."
Later, Starlink connectivity was being restored, Mykhailo Fedorov, former Minister of Defence of Ukraine, said while calling for the removal of restrictions affecting Starshield.
"Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored. Removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine’s defence. Thank you, Elon Musk. We hope for your continued support," Fedorov posted on X.