Ukraine accuses Elon Musk’s SpaceX of throttling Starlink terminals

Ukrainian authorities have accused SpaceX of throttling Starlink satellite services, disrupting its ability to carry out military operations and leaving Kyiv vulnerable to deadly attacks.

Key points

• Writing on Telegram, defence technology adviser Serhii Beskrestnov remarked Ukraine was "deprived of one of the few chances to defend itself from Shahed drones".
• "Hey Elon Musk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?" wrote Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister.
• The suggestion that Elon Musk's firm had throttled Starlink services drew the ire of Poland.
• Speaking to AFP, another Ukrainian official accused Washington of throttling Starlink and helping Russia.
• On Saturday, Trump suggested Zelenskyy had not done enough to end the war with Russia, blaming him for high diesel rates in the US.

Notably, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that without warning, services had been limited for terminals travelling over 100mph overnight on Wednesday – effectively limiting Ukraine's ability to launch drones. It apply satellite internet to pilot the craft.

Writing on Telegram, defence technology adviser Serhii Beskrestnov remarked Ukraine was "deprived of one of the few chances to defend itself from Shahed drones". He continued that frontline logistics and long-distance missions were additionally disrupted.

Meanwhile, the suggestion that Elon Musk's firm had throttled Starlink services drew the ire of Poland. It pays for Ukrainian Starlink subscriptions on Kyiv's behalf.

"Hey Elon Musk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?" wrote Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister. "As your European customers, we are watching you."

When the SpaceX boss informed Sikorski to "be quiet, small man" on his X platform, the "big man" jibe refers to a public dispute on social media between Musk, Sikorski and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio in 2025.

Meanwhile, the clash broke out when Musk, the trillionaire former senior adviser to US President Donald Trump and key midterm election donor for his Republican Party, remarked that Ukraine's "entire frontline could collapse" if he switched off Starlink.

He afterwards stated, "No matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals. We would never do such a thing or employ it as a bargaining chip." 'Cannot be a coincidence'.

In practice, the slowdown comes after Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv for the second night in a row, killing at least nine individuals and damaging electricity and heating infrastructure.

Zelenskyy notes Ukraine did not receive its usual warnings from Western allies, without specifying which partners. Trump remarked the US has not ceased sharing intelligence.

Beskrestnov cautioned that the slowdown "cannot be a coincidence" after Trump struck a agreement with President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel – despite international sanctions to isolate Moscow.

Taken together, the developments around ukraine accuses Elon Musk's SpaceX of throttling Starlink terminals point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.