Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine depends on, a move that caused alarm in Kyiv and confusion within the Trump administration. Trump has denied ordering any restrictions.
According to WSJ, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite network last week. The report said this left some offensive and interceptor drones virtually useless. The slowdown began on October 14 and came days after Trump and Musk both criticised Ukraine's strikes on Russian diesel refineries, which Trump blames for high energy prices.
Conflicting accounts in Washington
The WSJ reported that Musk and Trump spoke by phone soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning. One source also said the two had discussed the matter before the speed cap was imposed. Some US officials told the paper that Musk acted on his own and that Trump gave no specific order to punish Ukraine. A person familiar with the matter said Musk had spoken to several senior administration officials, including Trump, before the cap took effect.
Zelensky's public complaints that Ukrainians could die unless full service was restored set off confusion over who gave the order, and an informal inquiry inside the White House, the WSJ reported. During the uproar, SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts to agree a common version of events and a message showing that the company and the administration had coordinated before Musk's directive, according to the people the paper spoke to.
What Musk and Trump have said
Musk wrote on X hours after the slowdown became public that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Trump told reporters that he did not know who was responsible but wanted to find out.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US had not withdrawn any support and had issued no directives, adding that Starlink can decide its own terms of service. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Zelensky's claim that US intelligence support was briefly cut 'not true', though he acknowledged rising tensions between Washington and Kyiv.
Impact on the battlefield
Michael Kofman, a war analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the WSJ that Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones remain throttled to 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph), while the current connection speed is below 130 kilometres per hour. He said the limits continue to hamper both Ukrainian offensive operations and air defences. Ukrainian officials said the cap allowed Russian missiles to slip past their defences.
