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Elon Musk said on Oct. 24 that his company SpaceX had throttled the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, disrupting operations that the country relies on to defend itself against Russia.
Musk's admission on social media came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s access to Starlink and Starshield satellite links has been restored to the speeds it had before restrictions that disrupted front-line operations for more than a week.
Questions have persisted since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Musk-made satellite internet system that Kyiv has relied on for years to counter Moscow’s attacks.
“The speeds are now where they need to be,” Zelensky wrote on X.
In a post on Oct. 24 on X, Musk acknowledged that his company SpaceX throttled the Starlink satellite internet service.
“Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” Musk wrote.
“Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.”
But he maintained that the U.S. government controlled whatever changes happened with Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink that is the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operationsand communication.
The restoration follows a new U.S. diplomatic push to end the war. Russia agreed last week to resume three-way negotiationswith Washington and Kiev next month.
