Ukraine on Wednesday said SpaceX had restricted its military's access to Starlink satellite internet without warning, and linked the move to last week's deal between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said SpaceX imposed speed limits overnight on terminals in motion, capping the StarShield military service package at 100 miles per hour. Ukraine relies on Starlink to strike Russian positions along the front line and to guide interceptor drones against Russian air attacks, and both have been hampered. "Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation," he said.
The restrictions come as Trump steps up pressure on Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, which he blames for record diesel prices ahead of the US midterm elections. Last week he agreed a deal with Putin to buy up to 1.8 million tons of Russian diesel, while Zelenskyy said Ukraine has received no US intelligence on Russian aerial attacks for the past two days.
It is not the first time Starlink has been curbed in Ukraine. In September 2022, during a Ukrainian counter-offensive, SpaceX deactivated at least 100 terminals on the Kherson front on Elon Musk's order, according to Reuters.
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