SpaceX throttled Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine last week, Elon Musk said Saturday, confirming restrictions that Ukrainian officials said disrupted front-line operations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said access to Starlink and the military-grade Starshield network had returned to previous speeds by Saturday morning after more than a week of problems.
Zelenskyy said the restored connections improved military logistics and efforts to defend against Russian Shahed drones. Ukrainian commanders had reported lost drones and interrupted missions during the slowdown. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara attributed the restoration to direct dialogue and Zelenskyy’s diplomacy with Washington.
In a post on X, Musk said SpaceX had closed what he described as a loophole allowing Ukraine to use civilian Starlink service for offensive drone strikes, which he said violated its terms. He said the U.S. government controlled changes to Starshield and cited SpaceX’s support for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not order the restrictions and defended Musk. Vice-President JD Vance suggested White House co-ordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied administration involvement. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed concern about the disruption and warned against dependence on a single satellite provider. The issue emerged as Russia agreed to resume U.S.-mediated talks with Ukraine next month and Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a localized ceasefire around Oleshky.
Fighting continued despite those diplomatic developments. Local officials said a missile strike killed one person and wounded two in Lozova, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Russian-installed authorities reported blackouts in occupied Crimea after Ukrainian attacks. Ukraine said it struck industrial facilities in Tolyatti and an electronics plant in Oryol; local officials reported three deaths in Oryol. A drone hit an Ozon logistics centre in Russia’s Omsk region, the retailer said, without causing casualties.