Washington DC: Billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX founder Elon Musk directed an intentional slowdown of Ukraine's essential military Starlink network, triggering alarm in Kyiv and leaving the Trump administration bewildered, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.
Earlier in the day, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that Washington had ordered any reductions or restrictions on the military-grade Starshield satellite network relied upon by Ukraine, addressing questions about whether the service had been scaled back on the battlefield.
Clarifying Washington's position during a media briefing, Hegseth said the US military had not instructed any changes to the satellite service.
"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."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also denied Washington's involvement in the reported disruption of Starlink connectivity in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Rubio said Starlink was a commercial product and was not operated by the White House. Addressing reports of Starshield disruptions, he said Ukraine did not currently have access to the defence product.
Starshield is controlled by the US government, while Starlink is a commercial satellite internet service operated by Musk's SpaceX.
"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 Zelenskyy 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," Rubio said.
"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.
The developments came after Ukraine's military operations were affected by restrictions on satellite communications services. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised concerns over disruptions to Starlink connectivity as Kyiv continued to face Russian attacks, according to Axios.
Zelenskyy accused Musk of restricting Ukrainian access to Starlink during an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan on Piers Morgan Uncensored. He alleged 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," Zelenskyy 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 had been 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."
Starlink connectivity was subsequently being restored, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's former defence minister, 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.
