Elon Musk said SpaceX had restricted Starlink internet access in Ukraine after Ukrainian officials reported that connectivity problems appeared to have been resolved. Musk accused Ukraine’s military of violating Starlink’s terms of service by using the commercial network in offensive operations, while denying responsibility for simultaneous problems affecting StarShield, a separate U.S.-operated system.
Ukraine’s government has not publicly responded to Musk’s latest claims. Serhiy Beskhrestnov, an aide to the Ukrainian president, described Musk’s post as “very strange.” Musk had previously denied intentionally suppressing Ukraine’s connections, despite Ukrainian claims that an outage had hampered defensive operations for more than a week.
Musk says Starlink restrictions followed drone attacks
The dispute first emerged last week amid a broader confrontation between Washington and Kyiv over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. In a post on X on Saturday, Musk wrote: “Starlink, a private commercial service, cannot and should never be used for offensive drone attacks to kill people.”
He added: “Ukraine[‘s] The military violated Starlink’s terms of service and used Starlink in offensive drone attacks to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”
Musk said SpaceX had “contributed more to the defense of Ukraine than any other private company on earth.” He also reiterated that StarShield is a separate system controlled by the U.S. government, writing: “What they do is up to them.”
In a later post, Musk said Starlink could be used for military infrastructure, “but not for clear attacks where it is a fair attack to be counterattacked.”
Beskhrestnov responded on Telegram that drones operating through Starlink in Ukraine have a speed limit of 70-90 km/h (43-56 mph) and cannot function inside Russian territory.
“Therefore, commercial Starlink cannot physically be used for deep or medium-range attacks,” he wrote. “It’s very strange that Elon Musk is not aware of Starlink restrictions in Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense did not immediately comment.
Starlink and StarShield serve different roles
Ukraine uses both the private Starlink service and the more secure StarShield system, depending on its communications needs. Both rely on networks of low-orbit satellites launched by SpaceX.
Starlink enables military units to communicate and coordinate, particularly in remote areas of the battlefield. StarShield, by contrast, allows Ukrainian drone operators to view targets and operate interceptor drones in real time.
Russia is not authorized to use Starlink, meaning the network would not operate if Ukraine attempted to send long-range missiles or drones deep into Russia to attack refineries.
Ukraine reports stable connections
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Yevheny Kumara said early Saturday that the military was recording “stable connections” and that drones could again reach speeds of more than 400 kilometers per hour. Kyiv had previously said connections would be cut if speeds exceeded 161 km/h.
“The speed is now the required speed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk