Musk Turns on Ukraine by Limiting Starlink

THE TELEGRAPH: Kyiv claims restrictions on critical communications devices were implemented without warning

Russia launched huge ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv on Wednesday Credit: Valentyn Ogirenko/REUTERS
Elon Musk has turned on Ukraine by imposing limits on his Starlink devices, Kyiv has claimed.

Advisers to Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that military missions had been scuppered after restrictions were implemented on the critical communications devices without warning.

Mr Musk’s SpaceX company imposed a 100mph “speed limit” on the Starshield military package of satellite devices, inhibiting Ukraine’s mid-range and long-range strikes, current and former officials said.

On Saturday, Mr Musk said “Zelensky has gone too far” in his strikes on Russian oil infrastructure.

Relations have deteriorated between Kyiv and Washington after Donald Trump agreed to waive sanctions on Russia to import diesel to ease fuel prices and called for Mr Zelensky to be ousted.

The US has also threatened to suspend intelligence-sharing to force Ukraine to stop its refinery strikes, while Mr Zelensky has claimed he stopped receiving warnings from allies about Russian missile attacks. » | Antonia Langford | Wednesday, October 14, 2026

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Poland Will Seek Alternatives If Musk Cuts Ukraine's Starlink Access, Sikorski Says

THE KYIV INDEPENDENT: Poland will look for alternative suppliers if SpaceX turns out to be an unreliable provider of Starlink satellite internet for Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on March 9 in response to tech billionaire Elon Musk's remarks.

Warsaw helps Ukraine maintain its Starlink access, having provided half of the total of the country's 42,000 terminals. Starlink has played a crucial role in securing communications in wartime Ukraine.

Earlier on March 9, Musk claimed that the entire front line in Ukraine would collapse if he shut off Starlink services.

Sikorski said that Starlink services for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.

"The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers," he wrote on X. » | Kateryna Denisova | Sunday, March 9, 2025

Elon Musk Considered Pulling Plug on Ukraine’s Starlink Access after ‘Great Conversation with Putin’

THE TELEGRAPH: Tech billionaire worried about being seen ‘in Russia as enabling Ukrainian war effort’

Elon Musk said he could see the 'entire war unfolding' through a map of Starlink activity | CREDIT: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk pondered pulling Starlink satellite internet from Ukraine because he feared being perceived as a warmonger in Russia, a former Pentagon official has said.

The 52 year-old South African-born billionaire expressed his concerns after Ukrainian forces reported network outages close to the front lines separating them from their Russian occupiers.

Colin Kahl, a US undersecretary of defence for policy until last month, was charged with brokering a deal to prevent Mr Musk from turning the system off altogether.

“If you turn this off, it doesn’t end the war,” Mr Kahl recalled telling the SpaceX chief, in an interview with The New Yorker.

“My inference was that he was getting nervous that Starlink’s involvement was increasingly seen in Russia as enabling the Ukrainian war effort, and was looking for a way to placate Russian concerns,” the former US official added. » | Joe Barnes | Monday, August 21, 2023